A/N. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are awesome!
I don't own CSI: Miami or any of the characters. All I own is the stuff you don't recognize.
Part 4: Leah's Story
"Leah, you need to tell both me and Horatio what you know. Right now, you're looking like a suspect."
"Can someone else process this scene? I want to make sure we catch them this time. Me being here without you hearing my story might get IA on the lab's case."
"Yes. Was there anything that you touched that might be critical to this case?"
"Yes. The husband's address book. It had my father's writing in it. You can date the writing, though, to prove that I didn't mess with it."
"Okay. Good. If you can go to the Hummer, I'll be right behind you." Ryan pulled out his phone and called in a favor with Calleigh then he called Horatio to ask if he could meet with Leah and himself about something important.
Back at the crime lab, Leah, Ryan, and Horatio met in Horatio's office. "Leah, what's going on? Ryan told me that you said your parents committed the murder."
"They did. I recognize their MO."
"Leah, I need to know everything. Your career as a CSI may be on the line as well as many cases that you helped solve. Not to mention the fact you could be looking at jail time." Ryan said.
"Okay, but I hope you two don't have plans for a while. This is going to take a while since I have to start at the beginning."
Leah started her story. "First of all, you should know my name is not Leah Wilson; it's Tori Harrison. I am a twin; my twin is my brother Tom Harrison, aka Luke Wilson. We have three younger siblings. Our parents are serial killers.
"Luke and I are the first born of the five, so the moment the two of us turned 18, we grabbed the kids and ran. Our siblings are Jason Harrison (Michael Wilson) now age 15, Sam Harrison (Katie Wilson) now age 12, and Olivia Harrison (Amy Wilson) now age 9. I got a lot of scholarship money when I finished high school, so I take night classes at Dade U every other day. I actually met Kyle there, Lt. Caine. That's how I knew him when I started work.
"About 19 years ago, when Luke and I were 3, my parents started having marriage issues and so they went to counseling. This counselor told them that they needed to do something that brought them together. So, they went out and killed someone together. I guess that it actually did make their marriage stronger. That or they just really liked it because they kept doing it and doing it.
"Over time, they grew to think that they were vigilante assassins, so they basically started training as marksmen and experts in hand to hand combat. When Luke and I were 6, they started training us in it, too. They were breeding us to be assassins. Ryan, that's how I knew that jujitsu hold I put on the guy that attacked us at Samuel West's house.
"Through all this time, they were still killing; generally one hit every couple of months. They would stalk the victims, get to know them, gain their trust, and then they would kill them. I tried to call the police when I was old enough to understand what they were doing, but Mom caught me and cut me with a knife on my leg as punishment. I still have a scar from it.
"When Luke was 14, my dad wanted him to carry out his own hit. Luke refused and Dad attacked him with a knife. Dad cut Luke's arm really deep and was going for his gut, but I managed to kick it out of his hand. Doing that however, cost me most of the skin off the top of my right foot. I have a scar from that, too. Between the two of us, we managed to knock Dad out and convince him when he woke up that the whole thing had been a misunderstanding." Leah stopped there because she noticed Ryan looking like he had a question.
"Why didn't you go the hospital? How was your foot treated and Luke's arm?"
"I had a book on emergency care that I used to keep Luke and me from having to immediately go to the hospital. Then, I used the money I was saving for a car to take Luke and myself to the doctor's office when we were supposed to be in school. To do that, I told the principal that we had both been hurt and that our parents didn't trust doctors and wouldn't let us go to the hospital. When he didn't believe me, I showed him my patchwork job on my foot and then he even offered to reimburse me for the hospital visit. I took him up on that offer under the condition that he not tell our parents and he gave me permission to skip school for the day provided someone gave us the day's homework. I asked him that if someone called him asking for our parents to pretend to be my dad so that we could receive treatment without our parents knowing. He agreed.
"When we went to the hospital, I had to make up some story about what had happened. I also had to sign us in under aliases because we knew our parents were watching the list of patients. Once we were treated, both Luke and I went back to school and acted like everything was normal. We had to tell everyone that we had skipped class to get some sleep in so that we could believably return life back to normal.
"After that incident, I told the older kids never to call the cops about Mom and Dad and never to tell anyone. We managed to keep their little secret, but I have regretted it for almost 10 years because it has cost almost 50 lives. I hate to have you think about my family like this, but it is something that I am not proud of.
"Like I said earlier, when we turned 18, Luke and I grabbed the kids and ran. We picked them up from school while Mom and Dad were still at work and brought them home. I told them that they had a few minutes to pack their bags and put them in the car. When they had their stuff together, we threw them in the car and drove off. It took us about a week to get from our small town in Arkansas here to Miami.
"Luke and I enrolled in the Academy so that we could work patrol. We figured it would be our best chance of getting work. While we were in the Academy, we took classes online to get a college degree. We graduated and went to work on patrol. Luke quit a year ago because he got a good offer from an electrician about a job. I kept working and started Night classes. Right now, I am studying for my fourth doctorate."
"Doctorate?"
"Let's just say I have a really high IQ and good connections."
Ryan whistled.
"Things have been going really smooth in the past few years. We worked, and when the bus brought the kids home from school, Jason would watch the kids. When Luke and I got home, we would make dinner. We were happy. Now this."
"Okay. I am going to have to clear this with IA, unfortunately. If I can get your principal's number and the name of the hospital where you took Luke and yourself, we should be able to get you back to work within a few hours."
Leah stood up and turned to leave. "Just a moment, Leah." Horatio continued. "Mr. Wolfe, call Calleigh and ask her to come to my office."
Then came the moment Leah was dreading. "Leah, I am going to have to ask you to remove your badge and gun." Leah did so with obvious agony.
Then Calleigh came in. "Leah, Calleigh is going to need to see those scars on your legs."
Leah turned and lead the way to the bathroom where she showed Calleigh the monstrous, puckered scars on her legs and foot. Then, the two came back in and Leah sat right back down where she had been while Calleigh and Horatio walked out into the hall.
"Horatio, who did that to that girl?"
"If her story checks out, her parents."
Calleigh looked first shocked, then infuriated.
"So there are scars?"
"Scars? Horatio, there is a 6 inch one on her upper left leg and a 13 inch long, 1 inch wide scar on her right foot that starts to climb up her leg. I estimate that that was easily to the bone. Horatio, this makes me want to tear apart her parents. That girl is one of the sweetest I have ever met."
Horatio turned towards Leah whose face was a motionless mask, but he could see the overall pain in the way she held herself. He hated doing this to her. He thought of the physical scars she obviously had, the mental and psychological scars that were doubtless ly there, and of all of those which he carried himself from his own father. "The location of the scars is perfectly in sync with her story, but she never gave me any inclination that they were of that size."
"She probably was embarrassed of them. With scars like that, she probably has been made fun of."
"She was able to give us several people to call to help validate her story, but I want you to go pick upa certain Luke Wilson."
"Isn't that her brother?"
"I want to make sure their stories match up. If we can go ahead and straighten this out, then we can make sure that IA is gentler with them. Can you bring her brother here for questioning and then get on the phone with West Banks Memorial Hospital? Her story needs to check out. I will also need you to call this number and talk to Jason Moore. See if his story lines up with what Leah told us. If we get this information, I can choose someone from IA to come down here and clear her so that we can get right back to work."
"Tom said that our Double Homicide victims were murdered about 8:15 this morning. Does Leah have an alibi?"
"She clocked in at 7:45."
"So, basically, she's clean."
"Exactly. I'd love to see IA try to make her look bad."
"I'll go get on the phone so that we can get that girl cleared."
3 hours later
"She is all cleared. CSI Wilson can return to work and this will not go down on her record." said the only IA officer who was not a bureaucrat.
"I appreciate this, Lauren. You probably saved that girl's career." Horatio said.
Lauren Wilcox smiled and walked out of the Crime Lab.
Leah was waiting apprehensively in the next room. Wordlessly, Horatio walked in and put her badge and 9 millimeter service pistol on the table. "I'm cleared?" Leah asked nervously.
"You are. Ryan is waiting for you in the briefing room. I have an assignment for the two of you."
"On my way." Leah said as she grabbed her badge and gun.
"Leah, if anything pops up about your parents, I am to be consulted before anything is done. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir." Leah replied.
Horatio watched the young CSI walk off, his thoughts going back to his own scars.
Comments, Critique, Questions, etc. invited, encouraged, and welcomed.
A/N. Chapter 5 is going to focus on Horatio's own story.