Okay, so so sorry for the wait but I greatly appreciate how patient you guys were! All of your kind words made me more confident in this story than you will ever know. I am always wondering if the story is okay or not and you guys answer that for me in your reviews that I love so much!
I want to give great thanks to my beta read, Pantherlily, and also HCrazy for inspiring these series! Again if you have not read her stories...READ THEM! Lol, I know I post that in almost every chapter but believe me once you read them you will fall in love with her saga; I AM IN LOVE WITH HER STORIES :)!
A lot happens in this chapter and everything is beginning to unravel in little baby steps...hope you enjoy it :)!
"You are Horatio Caine." The woman said in a thick Russian accent. She sighed in relief of finally meeting with him in person.
"Yes, I am. May I?" Horatio asked before taking a seat. "May I ask what your name is?"
"My name is Elaine Rovak…..I know your wife." Elaine smiled.
Horatio looked up at her and asked the one question he was dying to know. "Is she alive?"
"The last time I saw her she was healthy and very alive, but that was a month ago." Elaine explained.
"Why…why did you ask to speak with me?"
"The man you are looking for is in Cuba. He preys on cop's wives and makes them his slave. If you resist him in any way he will kill you. Marisol and I met in Wisconsin about a year and a half ago. We both had just been taken and we didn't know what was going on. She gave me your name and picture just in case they brought me to Miami, and thankfully they did."
Horatio smiled at how smart and courageous his wife was. "You mentioned Cuba…..what's in Cuba?"
"A slave house that Slovak runs for cop wives," Elaine said.
That name sounded strangely familiar to Horatio, but he couldn't remember knowing anyone with that name. "Elaine, where in Wisconsin did you and Marisol meet?"
"It was a factory at night…..I remember smelling blood….there was another woman with us but she kept crying." Elaine sighed. "Your wife….she is a very sweet woman….she tried calming her down but this woman would not stop crying. The next day when we woke up one of Slovak's men killed her and showed the body to us to prove what happens when we don't obey."
Horatio's jaw clenched. He wanted to get these monsters and stop them from hurting anyone else. He furrowed his brows and examined the woman. She looked to be in her late twenty's or early thirty's. "Excuse me if I'm crossing the line but how old are you?"
"I am 27…why?"
"Mmm….I'm thinking this guy may be targeting specific women.
Horatio nodded. "If you remember anything at all or just want to talk….here's my card okay?" Horatio smiled.
Elaine nodded and took the card. "Thank you."
Once Horatio left the room he was approached by Eric and Ryan. Eric was just finishing a conversation on the phone. "I hope that's good news."
"Good and bad," Eric said.
"Okay."
"Good news is Natalia found out that our John Doe is indeed Mr. Sanchez's son."
"Okay….and the bad news?" Horatio asked.
"When they got to Mr. Sanchez's apartment….they found him dead. Cal and Frank are over there right now collecting evidence." Eric said.
"Mmm….Okay, Ryan I want you head back to the lab and help Natalia out on the evidence being processed. Keep me posted please,"
"I'm on it." Ryan said before leaving.
"What do we do next?" Eric asked.
"We….we are going to pay a visit to Memo. Because I think our killer may be closer than we think." Horatio said whilst putting on his sunglasses.
E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~
Jake walked into the warehouse and two men stood waiting for him. "What took you so long?" One man said.
"I had to get away without making it obvious. I'm sorry." Jake said.
"I hate the word sorry….Mr. Berkley, I am very powerful man and I don't like games."
"I'm not playing any games…..I want this to happen. I need this to happen…I won't be late again." Jake said.
"Mmm….why do you need this information anyways?" The man smiled.
Jake sighed. "I want to hurt him just as bad as he hurt me."
"What do you have in mind?"
Jake nodded. "I just want someone to make him go away and for her to never be with him."
"Mmm….a coma perhaps," The man laughed. "Those things don't work….they do in time regain memory."
Jake shook his head. "No, your job is to simply assassinate him. So, what do you say?"
The man grinned. "What do you I say? You are asking me to kill my own son." He chuckled. "What time and place?"
E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~E/C~
Calleigh looked around Mr. Sanchez's living room, where the crime took place, and noticed there were splatters of blood on the walls and picture frames. She began dusting for prints and found some on the windows, walls, frames, and door knob. She proceeded into his bedroom and heard a noise coming from the closet. She stopped moving and reached for her gun holster and pulled out her gun. She heard the noise again and moved closer to the closet. She reached for the door knob and turned it to find a little girl sitting in the closet. She sighed and put her gun away and bent down to talk to her. "Hey sweetie, are you okay?"
The little girl shook her head with tears in her eyes. "Bad man shot him"
Calleigh nodded realizing she witnessed the whole thing. "It's okay….your safe." Calleigh put her hand out towards her. The little girl hesitated at first but took her hand eventually and came out of the closet. Calleigh led her outside towards the ambulance. "Can you tell me your name?" Calleigh asked her whilst on of the paramedics checked her for any wounds.
"Ann Marie" She said smiling.
"That's a pretty name. My name is Calleigh" Calleigh smiled. "Can you tell me how old you are?"
Ann Marie held up five fingers smiling. "I just had a birthday last month."
"Happy birthday."
"Thank you."
"Ann Marie, is it okay if I ask you some questions?" Calleigh asked after the Paramedic gave her thumbs up indicating she was fine.
Ann Marie nodded. "Okay, why were you in the closet?" Calleigh asked.
"My papa told me to get in there because the bad man was coming."
"Who is papa?" Calleigh asked.
Ann Marie looked to the house and looked down with tears in her eyes. "Okay, that's okay." Calleigh was interrupted by a woman coming up to the little girl screaming and crying.
"Oh, Ann Marie! Oh, thank God!" The woman grabbed Ann Marie and held her.
"Excuse me; are you one of her relatives?" Calleigh asked.
"I'm her grandmother. What's going on? My neighbor called me and told the police were my house." Mrs. Sanchez said.
"Could we talk privately?"
Mrs. Sanchez nodded. "What about Ann Marie?"
"She can stay with me." One of the paramedics said.
Calleigh smiled at her and gestured her head for Mrs. Sanchez to follow her. "I am so sorry to tell you this, but someone murdered your husband today."
Mrs. Sanchez scoffed and shook her head. Calleigh's looked at Mrs. Sanchez's confused by her reaction. "I'm sorry, don't get me wrong. I am hurt that he is gone but my husband was not a good man; which is why I filed for a divorce last week."
Calleigh nodded. "Did you or your husband have any enemies?"
Mrs. Sanchez sighed. "He had many enemies….he is a gambler. We went into debt about a year ago because he had to pay a man $400,000 in cash. Until this day, I still don't understand how he could owe someone that much. We only had half of the money and we had some threats if we didn't pay, but we told them we called the police and they left us alone. We thought they forgot and let it go."
"That's the thing about gamblers….they never forget a debt." Calleigh said. "They will strike when you least expect, which is why we need to protect you and Ann Marie."
"Of course, we can stay at my neighbor's house."
"No, it's best if you go under police witness protection. Gamblers usually strike again in a common area even with patrol cars around." Calleigh said. Mrs. Sanchez nodded and sighed. Frank cleared his throat to get their attention. "Excuse me."
"I think you might want to see this." Frank led Calleigh into the hallway and up on the ceiling was a latch. Frank pulled on the latch to reveal a staircase leading into an attic. Frank let Calleigh go first and followed behind her once she was in the attic.
"Oh my God," Calleigh said.
"Yep" Franks said
"Frank, I think you just broke the case." Calleigh said. For in the attic were rows of pictures, on the wall, of every missing girl; including Marisol Delko Caine.
So, a lot is happening and the case is almost finished :)!
Thank you guys for being patient...R&R please :)!
More to come soon :)! I have to get a new Microsoft Word processor so it won't be until at least another 3 weeks or so until I post a new chapter, sorry. But I promise it won't be months like this last time...I hope you enjoyed it :)!