Title: Club Descent: Accused (7/11)

Author: Aeon Cole

Beta: sharpiesgal/Dino

Rating: FRAO

Warning: Slash

Fandom: CSI: Miami

Pairing: Horatio/Speed

Spoilers: None

Challenge: 50 Dark Fics

Prompt: #56 Madness

Word Count: 1675

Summary: A discovery in a quarry lake brings back some old memories and puts Max in a tight spot.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Tim snapped his phone shut after his second call. He had told Jess about the police finding Simon's body. She was excited and happy for him. She even suggested they should go out and celebrate. Tim was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with him. He wasn't excited or happy to find out Simon was dead, maybe because he knew the method, but he felt bad. He felt sorry for him and he felt scared that there was someone out there who could have done this to another human being.

He sighed. There was still one more call he had to make. He waited while the line kept ringing thinking it was going to go to the voice mail then a woman finally answered.

"Laura, it's Tim Speedle," Tim said.

"Tim, it's good to hear from you. Garrett's not here right now," she replied. Tim had stayed in touch with Garrett and his family talking to the boy every couple of weeks.

"Actually, it's you I wanted to talk to, Laura." He explained the situation to her with a bit more detail than he'd told the others. "So you don't need to worry about him coming back for Garrett."

Tim heard her sigh heavily. "That is such a relief, Tim. I can't tell you. Especially with everything else going on right now."

"How have you been managing with Jim gone?" he asked.

"We're doing ok. Jim finally started coming by on the weekends to see the kids. The first couple of months were really hard on them. They didn't understand why he stayed in Miami instead of coming home with us."

"Divorce is always hardest on the kids," Tim said.

"It doesn't help that he still blames me for what happened. If I hadn't suggested that cruise…"

"It wasn't your fault, Laura," Tim interrupted.

"I know. I keep telling myself that. He'd have gotten Garrett if he'd wanted to no matter what."

"That's exactly right," Tim said. He turned at a sound by the door and saw Horatio standing there. "I should get going. Will you tell Garrett for me? And tell him he can call me later," he said before he hung up.

"How are they doing?" Horatio asked as he walked over to Tim.

"Ok," Tim said reaching out a hand. He pulled Horatio close. "It's hard for her by herself with two kids." Horatio raised an eyebrow. "I know it wasn't easy for my mom after my dad left." He smiled just slightly. "I wasn't the easiest kid in the world to deal with."

Horatio laughed. "I wonder why," he said and leaned in for a kiss. When they pulled apart he heard Tim's stomach growl. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tim answered. "And you know what I'm in the mood for?" Horatio shrugged. "Pizza. We haven't had pizza in a while."

"Sounds good to me. Then maybe we can go through the rest of the real estate listings, since we got interrupted this morning."

"That place north of the city looks really good on paper. I'd like to take a look at it," Tim said. "It's close to the university and the lab, closer than we are here and it's on the beach."

Horatio looked at his watch. "Well, it's a little late to call tonight but first thing in the morning. And in the mean time we can find some others for comparison." He gave Tim a quick kiss. "I'll go call for the pizza."

ooo

Eric pulled the Hummer into the parking lot of Club Descent after dark. Ryan hopped out of the passenger side and looked around. The building was surrounded by warehouses and businesses.

"No wonder I'd never heard of this place before. It's pretty far out of the mainstream."

"In more ways than one," Eric added as they walked up to the main entrance.

Ryan stepped inside and glanced around, quickly trying to take in as much as he could. The place was dimly lit except for the colored lights behind the bar and the flashing lights over the dance floor. There was a pounding bass beat that he could feel through the floor accompanying the music. Out on the floor there was a sea of young men dancing and talking.

He shifted his gaze over the crowd and then over to the bar. There were several men serving drinks and chatting with each other. One of the men looked over in their direction and caught Eric's eye. Eric waved and Ryan followed him over to the bar.

"Eric," Max greeted him. "Good t'see ya." He and Eric shook hands. "I spoke to Tim. I know about Simon."

Eric nodded then glanced at Ryan. "Max, this is Ryan Wolfe. He's the lead investigator on this." Ryan held out a hand.

"Nice to meet ya," Max said. "So, what can I do t'help?"

Ryan opened the file he was carrying and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it over to Max. "Do you recognize this?"

Max took the paper. It was a stolen vehicle report along with a photograph of the car they had pulled out of the lake. Max looked it over. "Yeah. Where'd ya get the picture from?"

"We pulled that car out of a quarry lake the other day," Ryan said.

Max exchanged a glance with Eric. He had been certain that they were coming to talk about Simon. Then he turned to the man a few feet away and said, "Hey, Gus. They found yer car."

Ryan and Eric looked at each other then back at Max as Gus joined them. "My car?"

"Yeah, take a look," Max said handing over the photo.

Gus looked at the photo and said, "Yeah, that's my car all right. Where did you find it?"

"Submerged in a quarry lake to the west of here," Ryan said. Then after a moment he added, "With a dead body in the trunk."

Gus' head shot up. "Excuse me?" He stared at Ryan. "A dead body?" Ryan nodded. Gus looked back and forth between Max and the other two men. "A dead body," he said again. "Who put it there?"

"That's what we have to determine," Ryan said.

"Hang on a minute," Max interrupted. "Tim said ya found Simon dead."

"Yeah," Ryan answered. He pointed toward Gus. "In the trunk of his car."

"So whoever stole the car killed this guy," Gus suggested.

"That's one interpretation," Ryan said.

It took a moment before Gus caught on. "Wait a minute. That car was stolen from this parking lot three months ago. You can't possibly think that I had something to do with this."

"It is your car," Ryan pressed. "Where were you the night it was stolen?"

"Here, working," Gus answered.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Eric suggested.

Gus took a breath then said, "I'd driven to work like always, parked out in the lot. When we closed up at four the car was gone."

"Max, why did you file the initial report?" Eric asked.

"I still had Detective Tripp's card. I thought I could speed things up. As it turned out, all he was able t'do was direct me t'the auto theft folks."

"And you were both here all night that night?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Gus answered. "Otherwise, I'd probably have noticed the car was gone."

"What about you Max?"

"It was a long time ago and I don't really have a routine. I was probably here all night but I can't say fer sure," Max answered.

"Ok," Ryan said. "Do you have security cameras outside in the parking lot?"

"The officer who took the report asked the same question. No, only over the registers." Max answered.

Ryan nodded and exchanged a glance with Eric. "Thanks for your cooperation. We'll probably need to talk to you both again."

Both men agreed not to leave town then Eric and Ryan walked out. Ryan glanced around the parking lot as well as across the street at the one of the buildings.

"How much do you think the reporting officer investigated this theft?" he asked.

"A car stolen from the parking lot of a gay bar? Probably didn't do much more than put out a bolo," Eric answered. "Why?"

Ryan pointed to the building across the street. Eric followed his gaze and noticed a surveillance camera pointed toward the street. He smirked and glanced at Ryan.

"Can you work on getting a warrant tomorrow? I want to try to print the inside of the car," Eric said.

"Yeah, but wouldn't the water have washed away any prints?" Ryan asked.

Eric smiled. "Not necessarily. I needed to let the inside of the car dry out completely first. I'm going to try fuming it tomorrow, see what I get."

ooo

Tim curled into Horatio's arms while they sat on the sofa, the remains of their dinner left sitting on the coffee table. Horatio had the feeling that Tim's attention was not on the movie they were watching. He could certainly understand why. Once again their lives had been turned upside down because of Simon's presence. At least this time he knew Tim was safe and would stay that way. He ran his hand over Tim's back.

"Getting sleepy?" he asked.

Tim shrugged. "Not really. Just thinking."

"About what?" Horatio asked softly.

Tim sat up enough to look at Horatio. "Is there something wrong with me?" he asked cryptically. Horatio cocked his head to one side. "I mean, why am I not happy about all of this? Max, Jess, Laura, they were all relieved, all happy to hear Simon wouldn't be coming back."

Horatio pulled him back into his arms and sighed. "Did you tell them the details of how he died?" Tim shook his head. "Well, then there's your answer. All they know is that he's dead. He can't come back and hurt you again. That's what they're happy about."

"Yeah, I suppose," Tim said. "But there's still a psycho out there ten times worse than Simon ever was."

TBC