Chapter 10:
Horatio had listened to Calleigh's theory that the killer could be a copy cat, but he didn't feel the same way. He had told Calleigh that while they were tied up in the warehouse their captor had revealed certain details about the past cases; details that had never gone public. So if they had a copy cat killer on their hands, how could he have had that knowledge? Horatio appreciated that she was trying to solve this crime, but he knew they still had to keep digging.
After his discussion with Calleigh, he spent the rest of the spent the rest of the day and night with her pouring over the collected evidence. Eric had joined them as well, but after spending the whole time in the lab, Horatio had insisted he go home and rest. They would start in again tomorrow. Calleigh had insisted that Horatio go home as well; which he told her he would, but after she left he finally decided to just sleep in his office. He figured he would save some poor officer a night in their car outside his house. He didn't think he needed any protection, but Calleigh had won that battle and there was to be someone with him until they caught this killer.
As he settled down on the couch in his office his cell phone went off. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ryan calling, he was tired but he wanted to take this call in case something was wrong. "Mr. Wolfe, what can I do for you?" There was a brief pause, but finally there was a response, "Hello Horatio, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing tonight". Horatio knew instantly that this was not Ryan's voice, "Who is this?" He heard the caller sigh, "Now after all that time we spent together you still don't know who I am, I am so disappointed in you". Horatio's heart felt like it skipped a beat when he finally recognized the owner of the voice on the phone. "Why do you have Ryan's cell phone, if you've done anything to him I will find you and finish you once and for all". He was starting to fear the worse and was having a hard time keeping it from the killer.
"Mr. Wolfe is alright, but I thought I would keep some items, souvenirs if you like, from our time together. I just wanted to make sure you were getting a good night's rest on the couch in your office tonight". Before Horatio could respond the line went dead.
As soon as he realized the phone call was over he called the hospital to see if Ryan was ok. When the nurse finally got on the line and told him he was fine, he felt a little more relieved, but he asked that the call be transferred to Ryan's room. The nurse explained that Mr. Wolfe was sleeping, but Horatio didn't care, he needed to hear Ryan's voice.
As Horatio was listening to the ringing in his cell phone, it was soon replaced by a very tired sounding Ryan. "Hello, who is this?"
"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep Mr. Wolfe, but I had to know you were still safe at the hospital".
"Horatio is that you, I'm fine. Did something happen to make you think otherwise?" Ryan was sitting up in bed and fully awake now wondering what was wrong, he didn't like the tone in Horatio's voice.
"Ryan, I need to know if you have your cell phone with you".
"No, they said they didn't find it at the warehouse or with my car which was still at the motel. What's this all about?" He had never known Horatio to sound so concerned before, at least when it came to him.
Horatio felt a little better with this knowledge, but not much, "I received a call on my cell tonight and my caller ID indicated it was you. When I answered it I found the voice belonged to our captor. He must have taken your cell phone with him before he left. Listen, I want you to just forget about this for now and go back to sleep. I will see you in the morning when you are released from the hospital. Good Night Mr. Wolfe". He shut his cell phone and ended the call. He didn't want to give Ryan a chance to keep the conversation going since he had a lot to do before morning. He no longer felt he could sleep and went to find the night shift supervisor. He needed to see if he could track the GPS on Ryan's cell phone. He also needed to figure out how the killer knew he was going to be sleeping in his office. There were some new questions to be answered and he needed to work fast. This killer was living up to his promise of keeping in touch and this didn't sit well with him.
Horatio was on his latest cup of coffee, but how many he had had since receiving the call from the killer was unknown since he had stopped counting on his fourth cup. As he was looking over some evidence they recovered from the motel where Ryan had been abducted, Calleigh came into the room. He looked at her and saw that she had a very disapproving look on her face.
"Horatio, why didn't you call me last night and tell me what was happening. I shouldn't have had to hear about it from the night supervisor as he was leaving work". She knew that her tone of voice made it sound like she was mad at him, but she was just very concerned over this latest event and couldn't help how it sounded. "Did you even get any sleep after I left you?"
"I didn't want to wake you up since you had been here all night. There was not a lot you could have done". He figured if Calleigh had met the night supervisor she must have been briefed on last night's events, so he continued, "I had them track Ryan's cell but the killer must have turned the GPS off".
"Well next time you better call me. I don't want you handling this on your own". She was done scolding him for now. He looked awful and she didn't want to make him feel worse. "Have you had any breakfast yet, I thought we could get some on the way to the hospital. They're releasing Ryan this morning and I had a feeling you would want to be there to pick him up".
The drive to the hospital had remained a quiet one. Horatio had wanted to drive but Calleigh was able to persuade him that she should be the one to drive, saying that he could get some rest in the passenger's seat. She was a little worried about Horatio. She knew this whole thing was getting to him and that he felt solely responsible for Eric and Ryan's involvement. It was becoming quite obvious that the 'Triangle Killer' was not done with Horatio.
As they entered Ryan's room they saw that he was already dressed and looked very ready to leave. He definitely looked better than he had before. The rest seemed to have done his some good. "Hi Ryan, are you ready to leave?"
"Hey Calleigh, yes, I have been ready for the past hour, but the paperwork wasn't done yet". He looked at Horatio after responding to Calleigh and noticed that he looked awful. It looked like he hadn't slept since they were rescued from the warehouse. "Hi H, I didn't think you would be coming to get me as well". He didn't think he would see Horatio until he got back to the lab, but after last night's call he was not surprised.
"Mr. Wolfe, I am glad to see you looking better. I have sent the officer who is watching you ahead to check your condo so it should be secured by the time you get home". He had to make sure Ryan's place did not contain any surprises, but he secretly wished that Ryan would want to come to the lab. It would be easier to keep an eye on both Eric and Ryan if they were in the same building he was in.
"Thanks H, I feel so special that both of you came to take me home, but I really just want to get to work. I don't think I could sit still at home; I've been doing enough of that here. If you don't object I would just like to stop off at home to shower and change.
Horatio was secretly glad at this. "I think that can be arranged Mr. Wolfe".
After taking Ryan home, Calleigh and Horatio stopped to get a bite to eat before heading back to the lab. Calleigh knew that Horatio was anxious to get back, but she made sure they took their time during breakfast.
"Horatio, I am starting to worry about this connection between you and the killer. I don't know what kind of game he is playing now but I think you should scale down your involvement in the case". She didn't know how he would respond to this, but she didn't want Horatio spending all of his time at the lab while still being pursued by the killer. She was also worried about the case itself. Horatio was just too close to it and things may be overlooked, even though she knew that last part was probably not true. She had known Horatio long enough to know that he never overlooked anything.
"Now's not the time to discuss this Calleigh. I know you are doing what you think is best for the case, but we don't have time to remove anyone from the investigation. I think this link the killer has with me is just what we need to find him. I think his obsession with me may just be his downfall and I want to make sure I'm there when he falls". He didn't want to discuss this any further with Calleigh so he drank another sip of his coffee and got up to pay the bill. He needed to get back to the lab and keep working. He had thought about his link to the killer and knew that the killer had been watching him ever since the crimes started. He decided that he would use himself in any way if it helped them catch him.
As Horatio and Calleigh arrived at the lab, Eric was there to meet them. He took one look at Calleigh and knew that there was something wrong. He had heard about the latest interactions between Horatio and the killer and he figured it had something to do with this. This latest twist was starting to get to all of them and he feared things would only get worse before they got better. It was just a gut feeling he had, but he knew if there was anyone he could talk to about it, it was Calleigh.
"Hey H, Hey Calleigh, I heard Ryan was released from the hospital". Eric's eyes rested on Calleigh.
"Hi Eric, have you been here long?" Calleigh didn't know if he had heard what happened last night but she was anxious to talk to him about it as well as her conversation with Horatio.
"I got here about a half hour ago. How's Ryan doing?" He figured they must have dropped him off at his condo since he didn't see him.
"He's doing fine. He said after he showered and changed he would be coming in to work". Calleigh had to chuckle silently to herself after she said that. Eric and Ryan were such different people, but when it came to work their dedication was the same. Here both of these guys get kidnapped by the triangle killer and end of up the hospital, but all they can think about is getting back to work and solving this case. She just hoped that with Ryan's help they could finally find something and catch this guy.
As if Eric were reading her mind he said, "Great, we can use all the help on this case we can get. Maybe Ryan will have something to add to the case; after all he has had more time to catch up on his sleep then the rest of us have lately".
Calleigh was happy to hear Eric joking again, or at least she hoped he was joking and wasn't still mad about the time off that Horatio had allowed Ryan to take before they were abducted.
Horatio had been reviewing the results of some of the evidence for the past 2 hours when Ryan showed up to work. He was looking a lot better than he had and Horatio was grateful that he had both Eric and Ryan back at work where they belonged. The time with the killer still weighed heavily on his mind, but seeing everyone working together on the case made him momentarily forget the killer was still out there and for some reason obsessed with him.
"Welcome back Mr. Wolfe, you're looking better". Horatio followed this statement with a small grin.
"Hi H, I can't tell you how glad I am to get out of that hospital and back to work, where do you want me to start". He was also very relieved to be alive, but he didn't want to add this fact to his statement since Calleigh had told him Horatio was feeling very responsible for his and Eric's abduction.
"Well, I think you can go and help Natalia in the media room. She was exploring some new theories on the killer's identity and was working with a profiler to see how it all fits". Horatio expected Ryan to be eager to jump into the case, but he wanted to make sure he eased back into it. Unlike Eric, Ryan had already been suffering from exhaustion before he was abducted and he didn't want to have Ryan run himself ragged and end up back at the hospital.
"Thanks H; if you need me, you know where you can find me." With a parting glance at Horatio, Ryan headed down the hallway in search of Natalia.
"Hi Natalia, Horatio suggested I come and give you a hand, he said you had some possible theories on the identity of our killer". He was hoping they had something on this guy. The sooner they found something the sooner the guy would get caught and their lives could get back to normal.
"Hi Ryan welcome back. How are you feeling?" She knew he was probably getting sick of hearing this, but she didn't care. She really cared about Ryan and wanted to make sure he was ready to get back to work. She knew he looked better than when she saw him last, but he still looked like he didn't feel very well. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but the way he was rubbing his temples and closing his eyes, she guessed he had a headache.
"I'm fine Natalia; I just want to get back to work and to put all of this behind us". He didn't sound very convincing; he knew he was no good at fooling Natalia. Out of all the people he worked with, she was the one who knew him the best, besides Alex or course.
"Then how come you're rubbing your temples. Do you have another headache like last night?" From the look on his face she knew she was right. "Maybe you should just go home and take it easy; after all you never did get to go on your mini vacation".
He knew he couldn't keep this up so he didn't even keep trying, "I guess I can't fool you can I Natalia. It's just a small headache, but I've had it ever since I got up this morning. Actually I am not even sure I ever got rid of the one that started last night".
"Did you mention this to the doctor before you left the hospital?"
"Yes Mother, I told the doctor and he gave me two aspirin and told me to call him in the morning". He knew that Natalia was concerned, but it was just a headache. He was known to get a migraine on occasion.
Natalia was glad to hear Ryan joking with her; it made her feel a little better. "OK Ryan, but if it doesn't go away or it gets worse I just want you to go home".
Ryan gave Natalia one of his famous smiles and started reviewing what she had been working on. He knew they would probably spend the rest of the day and possibly night going over bits and pieces of the evidence and that was fine with him. At least he was doing something and wasn't just lying around waiting for someone else to find the killer.
Natalia couldn't believe the time when she looked at the clock. It was already 9:30. She looked over at Ryan and saw that he had put his head down and was sleeping. Poor guy, he was so tired, but he never said anything about going home. She decided to wake him and offer to drive him home. She knew that his car was still being processed for possible evidence to the case.
"Ryan, it's time to wake up and head home". As she was trying to shake him awake, Horatio walked into the room.
"Ms. Boa Vista, I see your still here. You should have headed home long ago". He saw that Ryan was also in the room and was resting his head on the table. "It's time both you and Mr. Wolfe headed home".
"You read my mind Horatio; I was just trying to get Ryan up so I could take him home". She shook him again and this time he lifted his head and looked up at her".
"Natalia, what time is it?" He was rubbing his eyes and forehead rather vigorously
"It's about 9:30, do you still have that headache". She didn't like the fact that his head still hurt. He had not mentioned his headache again while they were reviewing the case so she figured it had finally disappeared.
"Yes, I think the aspirin just wore off is all". He kept rubbing his head.
Horatio had been listening quietly to their conversation but felt it was time to jump in, "How long have you been having this headache Mr. Wolfe?"
"It's nothing H; I am just still a little tired". Ryan tried to hide his eyes from Horatio, in case they would give away the pain he was feeling behind them.
"Mr. Wolfe, if this doesn't go away I want you to get it checked out. In the meantime Natalia will drive you home so he can get a proper nights rest". He helped Ryan up from his chair and noticed that he staggered a little bit when he stood up. He figured this was due to his headache and having just woken up, but it still worried him.
"Ms Boa Vista, I will inform the officer who is watching Ryan's place that you are bringing him home. When you're done with that I want you to go straight home as well".
"What about you Horatio, are you going to go home to?" She knew he was probably going to make some excuse to stay late and end up sleeping here, but she wouldn't argue with him if that was the case.
"I still have a few things to look over but I will see both of you in the morning". He walked them both to the door and watched as they headed to the parking garage. He made the phone call to the officer outside of Ryan's condo and then went to lie down on the couch in his office. He hoped it would be a quiet night and that he could get some sleep.
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