Wow, fast update. Lucky you. But this is like my thank you for all of your encouraging reviews. I hope you do enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: See chapters before


7. The only thing that's on my mind….

Tara was working on Marty Baker when Ryan entered. She raised her head. "Please don't tell me you have another body for me."

Ryan shook his head. "Nope. Don't worry. What can you tell me about the bodies from Coral Gables?"

"Well, they have been shot. The bullets are over at Calleigh's. No DNA, no trace. Guy just got in and shot. No leaving no evidence of no kind." She shrugged. "Unless you have found something…"

"Nothing." Ryan sighed. "Thanks Tara."

"Anytime…"

---

Ryan's next stop was Trace Lab. Travers' looked up from a microscope when he entered, his eyes cold as steel. "I heard you questioned my girlfriend?"

"Don't worry, she's cleared."

Now Travers smiled again, "Good. What do you want?"

"Have you got anything from any of the crime scenes of the last days? Please. Anything."

Travers sighed, "Well, not from your. Since you didn't bring anything in. But I have something from the gun shop."

"What?"

He walked over to the other microscope. "Calleigh brought it in. It's a piece of tissue. Now, I might not look like it, but I own a few very classy suits." He motioned Ryan to look through the microscope. "You're looking at Italy's finest…"

Ryan frowned, "Italian. You're sure?"

"Yes."

"And since you are such a great lab tech, you sure have found out already who sells them?"

"Of course." Travers grinned. "Not a single store in Miami. Because they are custom made."

"Really? Now, that's a little something. Now we just have to find somebody to match the suit to." Ryan patted Travers on the shoulder. "Good job. Anything else?"

"Natalia found a fibre at the Little Havana scene. It matches the same suit."

"That's good news, but we already knew that the guy who robbed the gun shop was the one shooting in Little Havana…"

"Then don't ask. Have you got nothing from Coral Gables?"

Ryan shook his head, "Nope. Nothing."

Travers sighed, "That's bad."

"No, really?" Ryan sarcastically said. "Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome."

---

Ryan headed over to Ballistics lab. Calleigh was busy with bullets. "Hey Cal. Are these the bullets from Baker?"

"No, Tara hasn't brought them over yet. These are the bullets from Coral Gables. I ran them through NIBIN. Got nothing so far…" The computer beeped. "Okay, I got something." She hit a few keys on the computer. "Oh. That's not good…"

"What?"

"I got a match. The guns have been used before." She paused. "In the Little Havana shooting."

"WHAT????" Ryan took a look at the computer himself. "But… That's not possible."

"You mean I'm making mistakes?"

"What? No…"

"Because if I may remind you, I'm not the one who made mistakes on one of our last cases… you know, slowing down investigations…." Her eyes were cold.

Ryan gave her a look, "I know I made a mistake, but you know, you could stop hating me for it. Or maybe, just maybe, take a few minutes and ask yourself why I could possibly have done it… But well, thanks; at least I got a break on my case thanks to you." He left the Ballistics lab, slamming the door shut. Outside, he took a deep breath. They would never forgive him. He remembered when, three years ago, Delko had done some mistakes, all for his sister. He had come clear, they had understood him. Ryan had thought many times about coming clear, too. Telling his teammates why he had done it. His shrink had told him to do it. But so far, he had refused it. And Calleigh's comment had made clear that he was right. They would never understand it. He took another deep breath and then dialled Nicole's number. "Nicole, it's Ryan. Interrogation room. Now."

---

She already sat there when he entered, "Wow. That was fast."

She grinned, "Boy, believe me, if I didn't have a boyfriend, I would sit here naked… There's nothing hotter than a gorgeous cop going all serious on you… So, Officer Wolfe, why did you want to see me in the interrogation room? Because I was naughty?"

"Errr…."

She laughed, "Sorry, lovey. I just got my gun and badge back from Stets, and his face was priceless. But yeah, why did you want to see me?"

"And here I was thinking you'd think I was hot." He grinned. "But we have a serious situation…"

"For the record, you are hot. Yeah, what's the situation?"

"Calleigh matched the bullets from the shooting in Little Havana to our case in Coral Gables."

"WHAT??" Nicole was all ears now.

"Yes."

"Okay… So, what does that give us…?"

"The guy who shot the Habaneros also shot the members of La famiglia."

"And Calleigh said at the reunion two days ago that one of the bullets in Little Havana matches the one that killed the gun shop owner."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that…" Ryan rested his head on the table. "I'm feeling like I'm starting to have a headache. "So, there's a link between all three shootings…"

"Five."

"Five?"

"I checked with… a random acquaintance who knows people that know people that are Habaneros…. And both Badillo and Graciano are Habaneros."

"Okay." Ryan turned away from Nicole and checked out the window with his timeline. "So, practically…. Well, here's what I think…"

"You need sunglasses to end that sentence?" Nicole giggled.

"Are you sure you didn't OD on the antibiotics for your tooth? Anyways. I think we have a third gang in there. Frank said lots of gangs have unfinished business with the Habaneros… So they send one of their men to shoot them, then they go over to Coral Gables and shoot La famiglia…."

"But that does not explain why Badillo went to a club where members of La famiglia gather to shoot them. If their members wind up dead too, it tells the Habaneros that it wasn't them who shot their guys."

"True… Well, I'm going back to Coral Gables anyway. Travers found fibres of a high quality Italian suit at the gun shop and in Little Havana. If we find fibres of that suit in Coral Gables, we know it was one shooter."

"Italian suit? Well, in that case, we don't really have to go back. Remember, I was at the hospital interviewing that chicken pox ridden child. She told me she saw the guy. He wore a grey striped suit."

Ryan sighed, "So, we have indeed one shooter. Though, honestly… how can one shooter kill so many armed people without being injured?"

"I don't know…. But she told me she saw one guy…. Do we know how many guns were involved?"

"No, I forgot to ask… Can you go over and ask Calleigh? Or call her?"

Nicole frowned, "Why don't you go?"

Ryan sighed, "She pointed out that she wouldn't make mistakes like I did. You know, hiding bullet casings and stuff…."

Nicole looked at him, "You still haven't told them the whole truth?"

"Nope. And every interaction with them makes me realize I never will. They wouldn't understand."

"I thought you did. Delko at least seems to not hold a grudge."

"Yeah, but Delko can't. I mean, look at what he did. He almost made me blind."

"You forgave him."

"So he has to forgive me." Ryan shrugged. "Anyways…. I don't feel like bumping into Cal again. I don't wanna sound weak or whiny, but…"

"Oh, shut up. You're neither weak nor whiny. Look at what you've been through. Takes a lot to handle that…" Nicole dialled Calleigh's number. "Cal? Nic. Listen. How many guns were involved in the Gables shooting? You're sure? No mistakes? You don't make mistakes? Well, remember how you cooperated with the bad guys who kidnapped you? That was quite a mistake… You wanted to safe your life? You know… the good cop thinks of other people's lives first before he thinks of his own… but well, once you are in a situation like this, you'll understand that too. Bye, hon." She hung up. "Two guns."

"Could mean two shooters."

"Or one shooter with two hands."

"Or that… and you thought it was a good idea to say these things to Calleigh because…?"

"I'm an evil person. So, what do we do next?"

Ryan got up from his chair, "First, I offer my favourite evil person a coffee with cream. Then, I go to Coral Gables. Then, I take that piece of suit we have and show it to the little girl. The piece is big enough for her to give an educated guess if she has seen the same suit. Then, I come back and interview Badillo and Graciano."

"And why do I get a coffee?"

Ryan gave her a short smile, "You're the one that stood by my shoulder during those last weeks. I would buy you a golden coffee if it were any drinkable. Believe me, if Travers wasn't there, I would go serious on you all day…."

Nicole grinned, "I can lock him up somewhere…"

But Ryan shook his head, "I don't want him to beat me up…. He already looked damn serious when he asked me if I had indeed questioned you… Come on, let's go Coral Gables."

"Yes, Officer Wolfe…"


Golden Coffee.... Anyways. Finally a break in the case... Want more? Stay tuned for Chapter 8.