Title: City Under Siege
Chapter 10 – Death Marks the Spot
Memmo slowly comes to a stop at the light and turns back to eye Horatio, who had felt the van slowing and had immediately ceased his struggling; looking up and locking eyes with Memmo and offering him a narrowed gaze.
"You don't look so sure of yourself now Lieutenant Caine," Memmo mocks in a low tone.
Horatio offers him a garbled curse through the gag, not caring about eliciting a snicker from his twisted captor but wanting him to know that he'll never show weakness or compliance.
"The time to beg for your life ended long ago Caine," Memmo continues; the light turning green and the van starting up once again. "When we stop you will know the new meaning of pain and suffering."
Horatio feels beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, stinging his weary vision before resting on the dirty floor of the van he's forced to lie on. His wrists start to ache from being bound together so tightly, the harsh edge of the plastic biting into his tender flesh the more he continues to move them about. But he tells himself he has to push past the pain or Memmo will do a lot more than merely inflict a few surface wounds to his wrists.
His fingers return to the crude ropes as his throat swallows once more. The thick cloth between his lips continues to dry his mouth and soon swallowing becomes a painful task; that gag having absorbed all the damp saliva in his mouth. Despite his throbbing head and his brain trying to drown out Memmo's useless and continued threats from the front seat, Horatio does feel a small sense of success when the ropes around his feet become loose and he's able to kick them away, freeing his legs. He slowly extends his legs to get some added feeling back into them and then just rests for a few seconds.
"You know it was my distinct pleasure to corrupt Marisol," Memmo continues his merciless taunts.
Horatio feels his teeth trying to grit the longer Memmo continues to hurl insults toward him in the name of his dead wife. He bites down hard on the now damp cloth when Memmo calls her a cheap whore; hate filled adrenaline now coursing through his veins.
You will die today Memmo, Horatio vows silently as he feels the van coming to a halt once more; each time his heart starting to beat faster at the horrible thought that Memmo will get the upper hand before he's found and his life really will be over.
Horatio quickly pulls the ropes back over his feet, praying the rouse will fool his captor until he's able to get up the next time the van starts to move.
"I think she would be very disappointed in you right now Caine," Memmo sneers. "But no matter you'll soon be able to make your peace with her…course she might not have gone to hell."
Horatio feels his fists tighten, putting added pressure on the bulging skin around the edges of the plastic, causing it to bite further into his skin, the skin to break and small rivets of fresh blood to seep forth.
"I think you'll like your final resting place Caine. Its where you to can finally be together," Memmo smiles just before he turns back to start driving once again.
Horatio wastes no time in kicking the rope free and then rolling onto his stomach and pushing himself up to his knees. However, the van hits a bump, causing him to slightly shift in his position and his captor to look back; an immediate expression of anger covering his tinted skin.
MOVE! Horatio's mind screams at him.
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"Damn it move!" Calleigh growls as they impatiently sit in traffic, hoping to catch Memmo just as he stops with her beloved Horatio his captive in the back of the van and before he can inflict more pain.
"How do you know where he's taking H?" Walter asks in wonder.
"He wants to kill Horatio in the same place he killed Marisol. Memmo is twisted and sick but he's also clever," she huffs as they both gaze out into the massive traffic jam head of them. "Quick get on the GPS and find us another route to…" her voice trails off as she gives Walter the area she thinks Memmo is taking Horatio.
"He could be lying," Walter mentions quietly.
"I know," Calleigh acknowledges with a small nod. "But I have to have faith in Memmo's sick and twisted sense of his own justice."
"That's a new one," Walter frowns. "Believing a serial killer."
"Well they do take their work very seriously. Any luck?"
"Yeah turn left and then take your first right."
Calleigh quickly complies and they are back on the road once more; her heart still racing, her head pounding, her body still slightly shaking from the damp clothing clinging to her frame but her heart begging at her not to slow down or give up Horatio's life was depending on her diligent actions.
Hold on Horatio, I am coming.
Her mind drifts back to when she was with Memmo, her body offering a small shudder at his wicked words.
'This knife…first I'm gonna carve Marisol's name in his chest and then maybe yours.'
She feels her stomach lurch and quickly swallows, her lungs nearly constricting and her lips uttering a small gasp, drawing Walter's inquiring gaze.
"You okay?"
"Just remembering the words that Memmo uttered…vile things he was going to do to Horatio."
"We'll get there in time," Walter tries to console her; but his facial expression tells Calleigh that too is uncertain as to the future of their captive friend and superior. Memmo Fierro wasn't a man to suffer lightly by any means.
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Memmo looks up just as Horatio gets back up to his knees and then his feet, ready to pounce. Memmo then slams on the breaks, causing Horatio's body to slam into the front seat and land hard on his knees; his lips uttering a painful grunt into the thick gag.
Memmo's left hand remains on the wheel while his right hand reaches out and grabs a handful of nearly damp auburn hair, painfully jerking Horatio's head upright. Horatio brings his bound wrists up and latches onto Memmo's right hand, pulling down and causing his captor's to painfully twist and Memmo's lips to offer a yelp of pain as he tries to tug his arm back to his side.
But Horatio holds on, not caring about the copious amounts of sweat now starting to seep down his face and pool along the edges of the thick gag between his lips.
"Damn you Caine!" Memmo shouts as he tries to get control of the van; knowing Horatio's purpose in wanting to crash.
Horatio, let's go and twists himself around, heading for the back doors and hopefully escape. Memmo slams on the breaks, causing Horatio to fall forward onto his hands and knees. He pushes himself back up, his fingers finally reaching his first taste of freedom when Memmo's arms wrap around his legs and pull back, causing him to slam to the floor of the van on his captive wrists, his stomach feeling the pain and his mouth offering another angry grunt.
Memmo punches Horatio in the side and then yanks his body back away from the door. "Good help is so hard to find," he grumbles as he grabs a bungee cord, loops it through Horatio's bound wrists and then secures it to rung in the ceiling, out the window and then doing the window up, trapping his arms upright.
"Try to be a good boy until we get home now," Memmo laughs as he pats Horatio's already tender ribs. He fakes a hit and then pulls back; Horatio's body instantly recoiling at what he thought would be a painful blow. "I'll save the rest of the fun for home," he taunts once more. He then grabs a handful of Horatio's hair and pulls his head back, causing his lips to curse into the thick gag once more. "You better pray for death right now Caine," he warns seriously before he releases his grasp and then gets back into the front seat and continues on his way.
"She'll never find him in time," he arrogantly presumes as he nears their destination.
Horatio, however isn't about to give up and to reaches upward with his fingers to see what the tight bungee cord is attached to. Memmo looks to the right and laughs when he sees Horatio not giving up.
"It's too bad you won't join the dark side Lieutenant Caine, a man with your willpower would be useful."
Horatio stops his actions and looks at Memmo with an evil glint in his bright blue eyes. But he quickly gets back to the task at hand until he realizes the cord is now caught in the small side window and unless he is able to reach the handle to roll it down, which he wasn't able, he was stuck until his captor let him go.
Horatio rests his head on the side of the van, trying to find a bit more comfort in his aching frame and praying that someone knows where he's going. Maybe he told Calleigh, his mind starts to ponder. Maybe she's on her way! He tells himself to hold onto that thought as the van now comes to its final stop.
Memmo pulls out a large knife and looks back at Horatio with a wicked stare before he gets into the back and presses the blade against his neck, but not cutting the skin just yet.
"Time to go Horatio."
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Calleigh's fingers nervously grip the steering wheel as they finally make it around the traffic detour and are back on course; praying they get to Memmo in time before he has a chance to do too much damage to Horatio. The silence in the Hummer was palpable and growing, neither one of them knowing what to say as they both know very well the evil intentions of the man who has kidnapped Horatio and what he's capable of doing without remorse.
"Hey Nat what's up?" Walter answers his phone, breaking the stifling silence.
"Just to let you both know Frank is going to be okay. He lost a good amount of blood but they have him stabilized and were able to remove the bullet before it got too much worse."
"Good to hear, I know Horatio will be relieved as well."
"You have him then?"
"Not yet, but as soon as we have a firm location I'll send word to dispatch."
"Okay we're all here waiting for news so call when you can."
"What is it?" Calleigh asks when Walter hangs up.
"Frank is going to be okay and Nat and Ryan are just waiting in Eric's room before they are allowed to go see Frank. Now all we need is to get H and the team will be whole once again."
"Then let's not keep them waiting," Calleigh offers before she forces the speeding Hummer to mount the curb her mind chanting one phrase over and over again.
'Please God, let me get to Horatio in time.'
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Horatio wasn't about to willingly comply with Memmo and as soon as he felt the heavy blade slice through the bungee cord and his wrists have some movement, he brings them down on Memmo's back and lands a firm blow to the back of his head. Memmo lands a blow to Horatio's jaw, snapping his head to the side and allowing Memmo to grasp Horatio's bound wrists and jerk his body forward, not giving Horatio time to react before he's on his knees and being dragged toward the back of the van.
Memmo fairly kicks the doors open and pushes Horatio's damp frame outside; letting him tumble to the cold cement, landing on his side. Horatio quickly tries to get his eyesight to adjust to the dimly lit surroundings but before he can react, Memmo hits him in the back of the head with the butt end of his gun, sending him forward in a dazed heap.
Memmo picks up Horatio, adjusting his lithe frame in his grasp and starts to drag him further into the empty warehouse toward the location where he was lying in wait to take down the deceased Mrs. Caine. Memmo nears his already set up apparatus, arranging a hook in between the thick plastic that binds Horatio's wrists and then pulls a rope, yanking Horatio's body upright until he's on the balls of his feet, his arms now painfully taut in the air.
With his body now trapped and vulnerable, his head hanging in front, Memmo leaves his captive and wanders over to a nearby table, depositing his gun and knife and then turning back to the captive Lieutenant with a small frown.
"Time to wake up Caine!" Memmo's voice bellows, forcing Horatio to force his head upright, his eyes still a bit blurry. But as Memmo nears him with something in his fist, his senses immediately jolt him alert. He tugs on the hook that is holding him in his tight vulnerable position, his body just dangling touching the floor.
"I have no doubt that your team already knows your missing and have started their search," Memmo starts to utter, slowly circling Horatio's lightly struggling frame. "So let's get started okay? I'll be back with the knife but first I have a few things to say."
Your time is up Memmo! Horatio offers garbled words through the thick gag.
Memmo comes up behind Horatio, grabs the knot of the gag and painfully pulls his head backward, causing his neck to strain and his feet to move onto his tip-toes, his fingers still grasping at the rope and trying to pull his bound wrists free of the sharp hook.
"Want to know what went through my mind as I waited for your wife to appear in that window?"
Horatio feels his anger surge as he tries to yank himself free of Memmo's grasp.
"Want to know the feeling of exhilaration that went through me as I watched the bullet enter her?" He hisses in Horatio's ear, delighting in the muffled curses his captive was offering in futility.
BASTARD! Horatio growls angrily through the thick gag, forcing Memmo to only snicker.
"Her blood spilling and Eric's panicked expression when he looked around in vain was worth it all."
Memmo holds Horatio's head down to his a few seconds longer before he finally let's go, giving Horatio a punch to the back and forcing his body to reverberate with pain right down to his toes.
"It was moment of pure joy Lieutenant Caine," Memmo laughs as he punches Horatio once more, causing Horatio's vision to slightly blur from anguished tears.
"I will enjoy that same feeling when I finally take your life. A moment I have waited for since you put me in that god forsaken prison."
You're going…to die…Horatio tries with muffled gasps.
"Although you were a worthy opponent and I did enjoy the game while it lasted," Memmo states as he comes and stands before Horatio with an angry expression.
"But I have been waiting for this day for some time Caine."
Horatio looks at him and tries once more to get him to remove the thick gag from between his teeth.
"Trust me Caine with the amount of pain that I'm going to inflict on you, you'll need that in your mouth," Memmo mocks as he heads back toward the table and returns with the knife. "And trust me I'll still be able to enjoy every scream I produce."
His left hand slowly tugs Horatio's dress shirt from his black dress pants and his right hand readies the blade. "You're not shy are you Lieutenant?" Memmo snickers as he starts to slice away at Horatio's dress shirt and then his dark blue undershirt until all that greets Memmo is lightly sun kissed smooth skin.
"Better," Memmo laughs as his fingers rest on Horatio's tight stomach. "You know for a man your age Lieutenant you keep yourself in pretty good shape," Memmo continues his one sided conversation as he heads back for the table, puts the knife down and then retrieves a pair of brass knuckles.
"They are old school but they will inflict pain without killing you right now. Then just before you take your last few breaths, I will call your blond and tell her where to find you. You'll watch as I take her out and then you'll know true defeat. Your team can clean up the rest; well what's left of them."
Horatio kicks out at Memmo, clipping him in the groin and sending him staggering backward but never fully losing his footing.
"Damn your stubborn refusal to die," Memmo curses as he walks back up to Horatio once more, his fist ready to deliver the first of many painful blows. "As I was saying before, since you are not a portly man you will feel this sooner."
And before Horatio's body has a chance to brace itself, Memmo's brass encased fist lands on his stomach, forcing his brain to buckle with pain, his lungs to gasp for air and his body to stumble backward. The small amount of progress he had made in trying to get his tightly bound wrists over the hook was moot as the plastic tie slid back into the curve.
"You thinking about her right now or the blond? You sure know how to attract the lookers Caine," Memmo huffs as he delivers a hard blow to Horatio's already throbbing kidney's, forcing his body to lurch forward. But the forward motion did help his wrists edge closer to the top of the hook; something for which he was grateful.
His fingers quickly close around the tip, not caring about the slices the tip was opening; actually using his own blood to slick the surface so the plastic would slide right off. At least that is what he was praying would happen.
Memmo delivers another blow to his left side, forcing Horatio's lips to gasp once more and his body to painfully sag back down. He would need a miracle now to help get him free. He struggles to get himself at least upright, his chest heaving and his merciless captor showing no signs of remorse or compassion.
Calleigh! Horatio's mind calls out. Hurry!
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"Okay so now where?" Walter asks as the Hummer comes to a halt a few yards from where Marisol was shot. Calleigh gazes at the spot and closes her eyes, hearing Horatio's late wife's screams and Eric's desperate pleas for help; Memmo's sickening laughter still ringing out in the distance.
Hold on Horatio, we're here.
"Calleigh do you even know where to look?"
She quickly breaks herself from her morbid stupor and starts to scan the area, her eyes finally resting on two old warehouses with direct trajectory paths to where Marisol fell to the ground with Memmo's bullet lodged inside her.
"I think I do."
They waste no time in getting out of the Hummer and racing for the small back alley that would hopefully lead them to where Horatio was being held.
"I see the van!" Walter exclaims as he pulls out his radio and calls for backup; telling them to be on silent as they approach, the man they were seeking was already holding a very valuable hostage.
"We each take a building," Calleigh motions with her head; the van parked in the middle, offering no clear indication as to which was holding Horatio in it. "And Walter, shoot to kill because he'll not think twice in killing you."
"A-ffirmative," Walter smirks as he heads for the building on the left; Calleigh taking the one on the right.
She approaches the door and stops, praying for her heart rate to return to normal and her bullet to hit its mark. She slowly pulls the door open and then steps inside. Calleigh hears a voice not to far away and heads for it, clicking her phone to vibrate so as not to give herself away; walking only on her tiptoes.
She nears the first door and stops.
Memmo! Calleigh feels her fists tighten automatically and takes another deep breath, wanting to clear her senses before she makes her move. However, a commotion outside forces her hand.
"What the hell?" Memmo growls as he hears two police cars come to a screeching halt outside. He leaves Horatio's writhing frame and heads for the small window, the same window he had once used to take down Caine's wife. The distraction affords Calleigh the opportunity to slip in the back door and head for a heavily shadowed area, her heart shattering in an instant when she sees Horatio tied to the ceiling struggling to get free, his clothes ripped and faint smatterings of blood on the cement floor.
Horatio, too, uses the distraction to try to pull himself free of the hook, missing the first two times but then finding success the third. He then quickly cups the hook and prays that Memmo is too distracted to notice.
"Luck smiles upon me still Caine," Memmo laughs as he walks back toward the table; his tone causing Calleigh to cringe in her darkened alcove.
"But I am not a man to tempt fate so am going to have to hurry our play time together," Memmo pauses as his fingers rest on the large buck knife. "You know I have always wondered something Caine," Memmo picks up the knife and heads back to Horatio.
"Do you bleed blue? How about I find out?"
Horatio closes his eyes for a few brief seconds before slowly opening them, a new look of determination flashing in his bright blue orbs. At the same time Calleigh comes out of her darkened hiding spot and readies her gun. But just as she fires off a shot, Memmo steps to the right, causing the bullet to open a section of skin just below his right rib cage and forcing him to yell out in pain. Horatio takes the opportunity to kick Memmo in the side that he had shot him in earlier; Memmo's crude wrapping job not doing anything to shield the seasoned serial killer from added pain.
Horatio pulls away from the hook as he hears Calleigh rushing toward him. Memmo tries to grasp at Horatio, wanting to use him as a hostage against Calleigh. Horatio flings himself at the small table, his fingers desperately clawing for the gun that is now free. He feels Memmo's body land beside his but he quickly rolls away; the gun now clutched in his fingers.
"Horatio!" Calleigh calls out as she rushes toward them.
Memmo's fingers grasp at the gun, resting on Horatio's hands and quickly pulling back on the trigger, forcing Calleigh to quickly duck for cover.
Horatio sends his head back into Memmo's, his captor's grasp loosened but it's not until Horatio kicks back once more that Memmo's hold is dropped for good. Horatio quickly rolls away a few more feet and then pushes himself to his knees. And despite the fact that his heart was about to give way; his breathing hampered by the gag in his mouth, he knows it's time to end this once and for all.
Horatio quickly lines up Memmo in his sights and pulls back on the trigger, delivering two shots on his own and one the same time as Calleigh's.
First shot – "Eric"
Second shot – "Marisol"
Third shot - "Calleigh" - "Horatio"
Third shot – the one that joined with Calleigh's in delivering Memmo's final death blow. For Horatio it was Calleigh and for Calleigh it was for Horatio. Memmo Fierro was the one major obstacle standing between them and future happiness; to kill him meant to take back their future and give the city back its relative freedom.
Both watch as Memmo falls to the ground dead – it was finally over.
"Horatio!" Calleigh calls out as she watches him sag to the floor in a weary heap, trying in vain to tug the gag from his mouth with his bound wrists. She quickly drops at his side, gently pulling the damp cloth out from between his battered lips and then delighting in the few words she's longed to hear from him.
"I love you Calleigh."
A/N: okay so Memmo is dead yay! Hope you liked the way it ended and while Horatio had to get his vengeance in I hope you liked our gal adding her own to the takedown. A much needed fluffy ending is up next so stay tuned and thanks again!