Chapter 7
Shannon kept running even though she was exhausted. It was really dark now, as there were no street lights, so she had to be careful not to fall over.
Suddenly the silence of the night was broken by the sounds of a motorbike. It was still a fair ways away, but the sound carried. Then she saw the headlight bobbing in the darkness. Oh God, she thought, that must be one of the men coming back. She'd heard the bike leave earlier when she had first started cleaning Horatio up. She looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. The ground sloped down slightly on either side, so she did the only thing she could and lay down on one side, pressing herself into the ground as much as she could. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breathe. All she could do was wait and hope he didn't see her. The minutes dragged by and seemed like hours until finally the motorbike passed her and kept on going. She almost sobbed with relief as she got up and started running again.
Frank was driving as carefully as he could with no lights on. They were following the tracking device, but were quite a way behind to make sure the kidnapper didn't realise he was being followed. The rest of the occupants of the car sat in silence and had done the entire journey. He knew what each of them was thinking; he was thinking the same thing. What was happening to Horatio? Was he okay? Was he even still alive. Of course they were worried about the girl as well, but Horatio was foremost in their thoughts.
They had been driving for miles when Calleigh leant forward and said in her soft southern accent "Frank, can you see something in the road up ahead?"
"Where? I can hardly see a damn thing without these lights on."
"Up the road. Put the lights on a second."
Frank did what she asked; sure enough there was someone running towards them in the middle of the road. He flashed the headlights to warm them, but they kept coming. Within moments he'd stopped the car as the figure ran up to the driver's side door. Frank had his hand on his gun just in case this was some kind of trick. As he lowered the window the person was already shouting at him.
"Please, you've got to help me! They've hurt him and I don't know what they'll do when they know I've gone."
"Whoa there little lady, slow down!" Frank tried to calm her down.
"No, I've got to find a policeman called Frank Tripp, he said to get him." The girl was nearly hysterical. Calleigh leaned across and spoke calmly but her heart was racing.
"Are you Shannon Daily?" The girl nodded.
"Where's Horatio?" This time there was more urgency in the question.
"He's back at the house. They hurt him really badly. He couldn't walk, so he sent me to get help. Please, I must find Frank Tripp!"
"It's okay, you've found him. Look, Calleigh will wait with you 'til backup arrives."
"No way! I'm coming with you!" The girl had a determination on her face that reminded Calleigh of their boss.
"Frank, we don't have time to argue!" Eric called from the back of the car. Let's get going!"
Frank thought for a second and then nodded. Eric jumped out and let Shannon in. He hadn't even shut the door when Frank pulled away.
Horatio heard the motorbike pull up outside, then the shouts of happiness as the men saw the money they had just made. His stomach twisted into a ball at the thought that they would come up any second to get the girl.
What would they do when they found she had already gone? There was nothing he could do about it, he just hoped Shannon could find help and quickly. He heard movement outside the door, then it was unlocked and the door opened.
The Hispanic kidnapper came in first, followed by the one that Horatio thought was the leader. Both had their guns pointed at him. It took only a second for them to realise Shannon was gone and to see the window she had escaped through.
"Shit! What we gonna do?" Rico turned to Don.
Don didn't answer but walked over to Horatio and put his gun to his head.
"How long has she been gone?"
Horatio smiled. "I'm sorry…I don't remember."
"Oh, really. Rico tie his hand to the bed!"
Rico moved to the bed and pulled Horartio's taped hands over his head and taped them to the bedframe. He couldn't help grunting in pain as his broken rib moved.
"How did she get out?" Don demanded.
"I don't know, man. I boarded the window myself." Rico went over to the open window and bent down, picking up the bottle opener and showing it to Don. "Look!"
"How the hell did she get that?" Don snarled at Horatio.
"Yeah Caine, how did that happen?"
"I told you…I don't remember." He answered quietly.
"Perhaps this'll help you" and with that he punched Horatio in the ribs. He cried out as pain exploded through his body and he started breathing in shallow quick breaths. Horatio decided to answer; he didn't want to risk his broken rib puncturing his lung.
"I picked…it up when…I fell on …the table."
"Shit!" Don shouted. "How long has she been gone?"
"I don't know" Horatio knew Don wouldn't believe him and he braced himself expecting Don to hurt him but he couldn't brace himself for the pain that hit him as Don leant on his left knee.
Horatio screamed as his whole body felt like it was on fire. He started sweating and thought he might be sick. He shook his head and his eyes implored Don to stop. He was close to passing out when the kidnapper let go. Don slapped him hard to refocus him. Horatio blinked rapidly, trying to get the sweat out of his eyes and to focus on Don, only just managing to stay awake.
"Really…don't…know…asleep." Don nodded then pressed down on the knee again. Horatio screamed again, but it was cut short as he passed out.
"What'd ya do that for? He told you."
"He pissed me off. Anyway let's get outta here. If she got to the cops they'll be all over the place soon."
"What we gonna do with him?" Rico nodded to the unconscious Lieutenant.
"Kill him. He's seen our faces. We can't risk him id-ing us."
Don took his gun and aimed it Horatio's heart.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger Eric flew through the door and grabbed him, knocking him sideways. Horatio opened his eyes just in time to see the muzzle flash as the gun aimed at him went off. As the force of the bullet as hit him he caught his breath. His right shoulder felt as if a red hot poke had been shoved into it and left there. He could see the blood flowing out onto the sheets and the stain getting bigger and bigger on his white shirt as Eric fought with Don. He also saw Frank walk up to Rico who had his hands up in the air but it didn't stop him landing a punch on his chin knocking him out cold. Eric had wrestled the gun from Don and was now pointing it at him as he was being pushed out of the room. As Frank grabbed the unconscious Rico and pulled him out of the room, Calliegh rushed in, followed by Shannon.
"Oh God! Horatio!"
But Horatio couldn't answer he was starting to feel really tired and cold and was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
She knelt down and softened her voice. "Hey come on, handsome. Look at me. Horatio, don't go to sleep. Got someone here to see you."
She was struggling to keep from crying at the sight of him. Shannon stepped forward and crouched next to him.
"H, I got help like you told me to. You can't die. Not now."
He looked at the fifteen year old and saw the desperation in her eyes.
"Hang… in…there."
"You too, H" she whispered to him and smiled weakly at him.
Horatio felt his hands being cut lose from above his head and someone putting pressure on the wound. He knew there was a lot of activity going on around him, but felt detached from everything, he couldn't move or speak anymore, and all sound was coming to him as if it were from far away. The one thing he did feel before he finally passed out was a small hand holding his cold lifeless hand tightly. Shannon refused to let go of his hand, even when the medics arrived. They tried to stop her going into the ambulance, but Calliegh said it was okay. She had to let go when they finally got to the emergency room just as her dad arrived. She ran to him and burst into tears as she held him tightly.
"Are you ok honey? Did they hurt you? He asked her in tears.
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine, but they really hurt H, Dad, really badly."
"What? Who's H?" Her father asked her, confused.
"Horatio. The policeman who tried to help me. They beat him up and shot him. Dad is he gonna die?" she asked, looking up into her father's eyes desperately.
He stroked her head and told her truthfully. "I don't know honey. But I'm sure the doctors will try their hardest to save him. Come on, let's go home." He went to turn and leave, but Shannon stayed where she was.
"No, Dad. I'm not leaving him" she stubbornly replied.
"Shannon, there's nothing you can do here. You need to come home."
"No! I'm staying here." Shannon shouted just as Calliegh and Eric came round the corner.
"Hey there. What's the matter?" Calleigh asked gently.
"My dad won't let me stay here for H." It was difficult to answer her as both she and Eric were here to stay and Alexx and Ryan were on their way. So she answered truthfully. "Well, I understand how you feel. We are gonna be here too. So you could wait with us as long as your dad is okay with that."
Shannon turned to her dad and pleaded. "Please, Dad? I really wanna do this."
He looked from his daughter to the two CSI's and gave in.
"Okay. I'll go home and get you a change of clothes. Promise me you'll look after her" he asked Eric.
"You got it."
