Sorry for the delay, here is the first of what I hope will be two chapters today:
Calleigh met Eric in the break room the next morning, smiling her thanks as he passed her a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee. "How did you sleep last night?" he asked as he took a seat opposite her.
She sighed dramatically, "I didn't. I just kept going over and over it in my mind. What the hell is Horatio mixed up in?".
"We'll figure it out" he tried to reassure her but his words fell short, they sat in silence as each of them contemplated how to proceed. "I spoke to Dave this morning; he's working on tracking the ISP for that email. If we can narrow down where it's coming from it might give us a fresh lead to work with".
They looked up as Frank entered the room, not known for his sunny disposition Frank looked more pissed than usual. "Morning" he muttered as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a large swig.
"Did your contacts come up with anything?".
"Sorry, Eric. Nothing so far, my buddy at the FBI tried searching their databases but they got the same answer you did, access denied".
Calleigh spoke up, "There's something not right here, why would information on John Kelly be restricted? Was your source able to find a photo, anything?".
"Zilch. Sorry, Calleigh. I still have a few more people to tap up but it's not looking good at the moment" he winced apologetically before draining the last of his coffee and leaving the room.
She returned her attention to Eric, "I wonder who would have clearance to access those files?" thinking out loud to herself.
Eric raised an eyebrow, "H, probably".
"Which leaves us back at square one? Arrrrgh!" she raised her hands in frustration.
Placing his cup down he leaned over the table and closer to Calleigh, "Dave's going to take a while tracking the ISP down, I've talked to Ryan and Natalia and they have things under control here. Wanna ride with me to the hospital to talk to H?". She nodded her head and followed him from the room.
He opened his eyes slowly and winced as they adjusted themselves to the light, he was starting to get annoyed at waking up like this. He turned his head to the side and saw the blurry outline of a window across the room; he wished he could see clearly. He found the lack of vision disorientating and it unnerved him to be stuck here in Miami lying in a hospital bed with no recollection of how he got there. Finding his throat parched he tried to look around the room for a cup of water, finally his eyes found the vague image of a plastic beaker on the tray in front of him. He put his arm out to reach it but became frustrated when he couldn't find it, each time he thought he had it he ended up grabbing at thin air. Not wanting to be defeated he made one last attempt, his hand caught the rim of the beaker before spilling onto the bed. "Arrrrrrgh!" he yelled in frustration as he grabbed at the errant plastic cup lying by his side, with all of the strength he could muster he threw it across the room in a fit of anger.
Eric managed to duck his head out of the way in time before the beaker had a chance to hit him. "Easy man, I come in peace" he said holding his hands up in mock surrender. Entering the room fully he was followed by Calleigh who walked over to the bed and smiled at its occupant.
"Hey, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked as he turned his head in her general direction. She was careful not to use his name for fear of upsetting him.
He narrowed his eyes as he tried to sharpen his focus, try as he might he could not make out a clear image. He recognised the voice as being the same as the sweet Southern belle that visited him yesterday. He grew frustrated that he couldn't see her properly, the blurry shapes and colours had left a lot to his imagination and he was eager to see if his mind's impression of her was accurate. "I feel like someone's being playing football with my head" he groused as he tried to wipe away the water stains from his sheets.
Eric walked over and handed Calleigh the cup that had landed on the floor, she poured some water from the jug and handed it to Horatio. "Drink this" she instructed as she held it to his mouth. He took a couple of sips and smiled at her gratefully. "Eric and I have come to ask you a few more questions, is that ok?". She sat down in the chair next to the bed and removed the notepad from her purse.
Wincing as pain shot through his head once more he answered, "Sure, why not. It's not like I've got much else to do at the moment".
Eric stood in the corner of the room and smiled, the grousing sure sounded like their boss, even if the man didn't know it himself at the moment.
"We tried searching with the information you gave me, we couldn't get anything to pop up under the name John Kelly".
He tried to raise his head from the bed and groaned in defeat as the room span before his eyes, "What do you mean? I told you I'm an NYPD detective at the 15th precinct. You need to speak to Andy".
"Who's Andy?" Eric asked from across the room.
"He's my partner at the precinct, Andy Sipowicz. He'll tell you that this is all some sort of understanding". His words began to slur as he grew more tired, he reached out a hand in the direction of where the sweet Southern voice was coming from and pleaded with her desperately, "Call Andy, tell him I need him" his voice trailed off as exhaustion overtook the ailing lieutenant, his eyes closed as his bandaged head fell to one side. Taking his hand Calleigh kissed it softly before laying it on his chest; she looked over to Eric with tears in her eyes.
He didn't miss the loving way that Calleigh tended to their friend, he made a mental note to question her about her intentions later in the day but for now he took one final look at Horatio before shaking his head sadly and leaving the room.
After clearing the tasks left for them by their colleagues Eric and Calleigh met in Horatio's office at mid-afternoon, turning on his computer they typed in the name Horatio had given them and clicked the search button. They looked at each other nervously as the computer scanned several databases, finally the computer beeped to signal its results. They looked at each other for a few moments before Calleigh finally bit the bullet and clicked on the search link results. Her eyes scanned the screen as she read out, "Sgt Andy Sipowicz, 15th precinct, Manhattan. Says he retired in 2005".
Eric leaned in closer, "Is there an address for him?" he asked as Calleigh scrolled further down the screen.
It took her a moment to find it, "Says here last known address is in Brooklyn, there's no contact number though" she frowned in disappointment.
"Looks like one of us is going to have to fly to New York to track this guy down".
She looked at him in shock, "Eric, you can't be serious!".
"How else are we going to find out what's going on? Every lead we have comes back to more questions, we need some answers" he said with more conviction than he actually felt.
"Who's going then? Me or you?".
"I'll go; Horatio seems to have more of a 'connection' to you at the moment".
She could not mistake the bitter edge to his voice, "And what is that supposed to mean?" she shot back, feeling her anger build.
"Nothing, I just think you're getting a bit too tactile with him, that's all" he saw the furious look on her face but continued regardless, "He doesn't know where or who he is at the moment. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be messing with his head at the moment".
"I am not messing with his head!" Calleigh Duquesne was not a woman to take such attacks on her good nature lying down. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Why are you men always such arrogant pigs?".
Realising that he had stepped over the mark he attempted to apologise, "I'm sorry, Calleigh. I was out of line, I guess I'm just frustrated that we're not getting anywhere at the moment. H could be in danger and we have absolutely no idea what we're up against".
Her features softened as she took in his words, "You're right. I guess we're taking it out on the wrong people. Go home and pack, I'll keep an eye on things here and at the hospital".
He gave her a small nod and left the room but not before telling her, "Keep your eyes and ears open, Calleigh. We don't know who we're dealing with yet".
Later in the afternoon she walked in to the computer lab where she found their resident expert Dave Benton leaning over his workstation. "I got your text, Dave" she said holding her cell phone up as if to emphasise her point, "What have you got for me?".
He frowned as he closed one screen and opened another; a map with hundreds of lines filled the huge glass display screen. Calleigh looked at him for answers, "I've spent all day trying to track the ISP down but I'm not getting anywhere. As soon as I've traced it to one source it leads to a dozen others, it seems as though I'm going round in circles. Whoever created this algorithm to hide the original ISP is a professional. I'm not sure I can crack it. I'm sorry, Calleigh".
Her heart sank once more, "So we've got no idea where the email came from or who sent it?".
"I'm afraid not, the only thing I can tell you is that whoever sent this REALLY knows what they're doing".
"Could you keep trying?".
"Sure, but if any new cases come in I'll have to put this to the back of the queue".
"Thanks, Dave. Could you just keep this between the three of us for now?". The email she had received yesterday had unnerved her more than she wanted to admit. She felt the best course of action was to keep as few people in the loop as possible; Horatio's safety was of paramount importance. She heeded the warning of the anonymous email, the fewer people who knew the safer Horatio would be.
Calleigh thanked Dave and had reached the door when his workstation beeped at him, 'New email' it read. He looked at Calleigh as she nodded, the contents of the message flashed up on the giant screen:
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. It's your head on the line now too; if I were you I'd watch your back. And his."
