Thanx 2 everyone that reviewed…

HelloHandsomee

Ayame1313

Julia—There will be plenty of romance, I promise. But I don't want to force it! :)

Here's chapter 6! Enjoy!

As Horatio headed toward his Hummer, Calleigh and Eric made their arrival. They exchanged greetings and a few pleasantries before going their separate ways. He was about to climb into the large vehicle when he caught sight of something—or rather someone—in the corner of his eye.

He turned his head and lowered his sunglasses, glancing at the crowd of onlookers watching curiously from behind the yellow tape.

The figure was gone—or had simply become lost in the sea of faces.

Someone touched his elbow. "Horatio?"

He turned and found Calleigh standing there, a slightly concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw…" He shook his head. Perhaps it had just been his imagination. "Nevermind." He replaced his sunglasses and quickly changed the subject. "See you back at the lab?"

Calleigh knew he was hiding something, but decided not to press it. If it was something worth sharing he would have told her—right? She pushed the thought from her mind and nodded, smiling.

He gave her a brief smile in return and climbed into his Hummer, beginning the long drive back to the lab. As he pulled out onto the road, he glanced up into the rearview mirror and could see Calleigh watching him, wondering. He felt a little bad for not telling her, but he wasn't even entirely sure of what he'd seen. He took a deep breath, assuring himself that he'd done the right thing. And left it at that.

Calleigh hurried down the hall, her pulse hammering with a nervousness she hadn't felt since she'd first become a CSI. After she and Eric had returned from the crime scene, she'd discovered that her camera had been tampered with. The memory card holding all her photographs of the scene had been stolen. She knew she had to tell him. He was their boss, after all. But this was the second time this year she'd lost evidence. She was gonna be in so much trouble. She rounded the corner and pushed the lieutenant's door open.

Horatio was pacing back-and-forth in front of his desk, his cell phone pressed to his ear. He saw Calleigh standing in the doorway watching him with curiosity and smiled. He invited her in and motioned that he would be with her in a moment. He arched an eyebrow as his attention went back to the conversation he was having on the phone.

"I'm just here to uncover the truth. Catch a killer. If you haven't done anything, there's no need to worry…" He winced, pulling the phone a few inches away from his ear. It sounded like someone was having a tantrum on the other end. The man seemed unphased by it and calmly returned the phone to its original position a few moments later. "Comments like that don't inspire confidence, Julia. Just a heads-up."

Calleigh was intrigued. So, he was talking to Julia. And it sounded like the woman was giving him a hard time. She wasn't surprised. She'd heard they'd had a bit of a confrontation during an interrogation earlier.

Horatio stopped pacing and put his free hand on his hip, frowning. "Don't go far…" He shifted the phone as he'd done before when the voice on the other end grew louder. "Well, I'm no lawyer, Julia, but I do know that I have the legal the authority to do exactly that; detain you until I'm satisfied we've completed our questioning. Of course, no one's going to stand guard to make sure you don't leave. But if you do decide to take off, I'll just have to dispatch some of my people to wherever you go and continue questioning you in conjunction with the local authorities. But do you know what?"

He was listening again, then, "It seems to me that if you had absolutely nothing to do with this—which I highly doubt, given your track record—it seems to me you'd want to stay and be as helpful as possible. It seems to me that anyone who can't deal with being questioned might—and I emphasize might—have some reason for it."

Calleigh covered her smile with her hand. Horatio knew exactly how to deal with people like Julia.

After a moment, he lowered the small device from his ear and shook his head at it.

Calleigh chuckled, watching him put his phone away. "She hung up on you." It was more of a statement than a question.

Horatio nodded, finally turning his attention onto his guest. "Sorry about that," he apologized. Calleigh waved it off. "So, what can I do for you, ma'am?"

The blonde CSI hesitated, remembering why she was there. And she suddenly felt like a silly schoolgirl standing in the principal's office. At her silence, Horatio walked up to her and looked into her eyes. He could tell she was nervous about something.

"What's wrong?"

"We have a problem," she confessed. "The memory card from my digital camera was stolen and switched with a blank. The only time the camera was out of my possession was at the crime scene. But only for a second."

"How could that be? It was a secure scene." A fragment of a memory suddenly flashed through Horatio's mind. The figure he'd seen in the crowd before he'd left—it hadn't been his imagination.

Calleigh shrugged. "I don't know. I dusted the camera and the card. There weren't any prints. All of the crime scene photos of the body and the car were on that card."

"We do have a problem." He stared at her, whether angered or disappointed, she couldn't tell. His face softened. "Don't worry. I have a feeling those pictures will turn up soon."

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