Chain of Command
Chapter 10
Calleigh was inside the van with a small UV light looking for blood traces. She drew in a sharp breath when the light picked up a small amount of blood on the floor. With a swab, she touched the blood, and realized it still had some stickiness left which immediately told her it had not been there long. Trying to hold back her tears, she dropped the swab in an envelope to carry back to the lab. Next she began looking for other body fluids such as saliva. When criminals were holding someone, they invariably left behind traces of DNA because they are so caught up in the moment, they're not aware their body is leaving clues behind. The last procedure she performed was lifting fingerprints from the edges of the doors and within the cab itself. Exiting the van after she was satisfied she had collected all the evidence needed, with kit in hand she walked toward Frank who was standing near a patrol car.
Frank watched apprehensively as Calleigh approached. "Finished?"
Somberly she answered, "I found more than enough."
As she and Frank entered the reception area of the lab to pick up their messages that came in while they were out, she heard a familiar voice approaching from behind.
"Calleigh…what's going on? I heard on the news that Dad's missing."
Turning around, Calleigh saw the frightened look on Kyle's face. She instantly began admonishing herself for not calling him, but after Horatio disappeared she was too distraught to think clearly.
"Um, Kyle," Calleigh began hesitantly, "Kyle, your dad disappeared after the graveside service. He was kidnapped." Her brief statement caused tears to well in her eyes as she watched the confusion overtake the young man. She reached out and put her hand on Kyle's arm to reassure him, "We're doing everything we can to find him Kyle." He wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her; greatly aware she was having difficulty even discussing the situation.
"I know you are…I know his team is." Leaning back he asked, "Will the kidnappers call for a ransom?"
She shook her head no and turned her head to look out the large glass front of the room as her tears threatened to fall. "No…it's not that type of…" her voice quivered and Frank finished her sentence.
"Kyle, your dad was kidnapped by someone from his past wanting revenge."
"From a case?"
Frank then wondered if Horatio had ever told his son about his serving in the Army during Vietnam.
"Kyle," Calleigh interjected having recovered enough to suggest, "let me drop this evidence by the DNA lab and I'll explain everything."
"Can I go to dad's office?" He asked with a pleading expression.
"Sure," Calleigh answered, "we'll go together."
Calleigh turned and told the receptionist that Kyle would be with her in Horatio's office.
Sitting in Horatio's office, Calleigh told Kyle all about Horatio's time in Vietnam. The young man was stunned. He stared into Calleigh's eyes, and then looked away.
"Why hasn't he told me about his service? Then I would have understood better why he was not happy when I signed up."
"Your Dad is a very private man…I know you realize that. The only reason he told me was because of the Burton's murder. Listen, I need to go check on the progress of the evidence we collected. Will you be alright?"
Kyle shook his head that he would be, then suddenly asked, "Can I stay in Dad's office? I just feel close to him here."
Calleigh smiled slightly, fully understanding his feelings, "Sure. I'll be back by after a while."
Natalia looked up as Calleigh entered the DNA lab. "Just finishing up running tests on the blood from the van." Calleigh shook her head in understanding. She sat down heavily on a stool and put her head in her hand, rubbing her forehead.
"Cal, I know this has to be hard on you." Calleigh's response was to sit up straight and take a deep breath.
"It is Nat. Every time I allow myself to think about what may be going on with him, I just want to sit down and cry, but the CSI side of me knows the best thing to do is to work with the evidence. You know what he's always said, 'follow the evidence'. We can't afford to let ourselves be distracted." Natalia shook her head agreeing with her friend.
"Here we go," Natalia said as she waited for the printer to complete the job. Her face fell slightly before she realized it and she quickly changed her expression.
"What does it show?" Calleigh asked as she held out her hand and took the paper. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped at the information, but she had already told herself when she found the blood it was probably Horatio's.
"At least it's a small amount. What caught my eye was a trace of sodium thiopental with the blood. It didn't originate in his blood, but was secondary, suggesting it dripped into the blood droplet on the floor."
"How did they subdue him though to inject the fast acting barbiturate before unconsciousness took over? Horatio's a strong man; he would have fought off his attackers if physically possible."
"They had to have subdued him in some way…Taser maybe?" Natalia suggested. Calleigh shrugged in response.
It was late, 7:00 in the evening and Calleigh sat down at Horatio's desk in his chair. Calleigh could feel his arms around her as she sat there. She fully understood Kyle's comment earlier about sensing Horatio's presence here. Kyle had left after a couple of hours and told her he'd see her later. With everything else going on, she worried about the young man; he was strong, but impetuous. So much like his father, except for the tendency for hastiness, she smiled thinking, Horatio may have been exactly like Kyle when he was young, but age has a way of slowing down your impulsive reactions.
So lost in thought, she never heard the door open nor saw the young man enter. "Calleigh," Kyle called softly, "let's go home."
"I can't Kyle. I need to stay here…I can't go to that house without Horatio." Kyle diverted his eyes to the floor.
"Believe me, I understand, but…"
"You go…take our car," she offered as she retrieved the keys from her purse.
About that time Frank knocked on the door and walked in and sat down in a chair in front of the desk totally exhausted.
Fear gripped Calleigh, but she had to know, "Phen didn't talk?" Frank looked first at Calleigh, then at Kyle's confused expression and shook his head no.
"He knows something Cal. I could just feel it. When the two fugitives passed by the room, Phen's eyes briefly reflected recognition before he caught himself, but when Thergen passed, fear passed over Phen's eyes as if he'd seen a ghost. The only thing I could do was to leave him with the impression that Thergen was gonna talk and receive a lighter sentence, but he could beat him to it if he'd tell us what he knew. I had Phen put on ice to let him mull that thought over. Hopefully that will persuade him to give up something."
Horatio slowly became aware that he was lying on a wood platform, with his arms and legs secured with restraints; his right hand was swollen, while his arm and shoulder continually throbbed with every beat of his heart. Only semi-conscious he was still feeling the results in his body from slamming into the floor. Chien's men had untied the ropes holding him suspended several feet above and let him fall, the impact abruptly rousing him from the darkness.
In his conscious moments Horatio repeated a line from a song's lyrics in his mind over and over to help stay focused, "my head's in the clouds whenever you're around; till the end my heart belongs to you." At one point he asked himself, is this the end? No…it can't be. I finally found my true love. I have Kyle…two people I must live for. I can't let them down.
Suddenly he realized Chien was standing over him. "I've softened in my old age Caine…I'm actually going to let you rest a short time before we begin again. At dawn, you will understand why you'll need strength because that's when the real fun begins."
Horatio drifted out of the darkness, back to consciousness, but kept his eyes closed. He felt the restraints being loosened around his legs, then his wrists as he was struggling to regain his wits. He felt that this might be his only opportunity to try and escape, although he wasn't confident he had enough stamina to fight off more than one at a time, but with any luck this might be the only man in the small room with him.
A strong hand gathered the front of his t-shirt and pulled Horatio upright and the man pulling was unprepared for what happened next. Horatio swung his left fist with all his might and made contact against the man's temple, instantly knocking him out. Even Horatio was surprised that he was successful. The action zapped a great deal of Horatio's strength and he realized it when it was requiring tremendous effort to push himself off the wood bed with only his left hand. He took the time to sit for a few seconds to hurriedly prepare for what was sure to come. Chien's other helpers. How am I going to manage to subdue them? Guess it will come to me as I go. I've got to try. I'm really not going to survive if I stay here.
Horatio had just propped himself flush against the wall beside the door to the room when he saw it begin to open. Letting the man partially enter, Horatio slammed his left fist against the man's head, but this time it was just a glancing blow. The man staggered in shock, but quickly recovered while Horatio lost his balance and fell across the other man lying prone on the floor.
"You son-of-a-bitch," the man screamed, and then spouted a string of other expletives as he roughly grasped Horatio and jerked him up and punched him in the kidney. The blow made Horatio's knees buckle, but the man was strong and kept him from falling out of reach as another man stepped in and with a solid wood baton struck Horatio in the mid-section a couple of times until a command was shouted, "STOP!"
"YOU IDIOTS! He won't be in any shape for our game!" Chien screamed and with one swift kick to the kneecap of the man wielding the baton, caused the man to drop the baton and instantly fall to the concrete floor griping his knee in agony.
Then Chien turned to the one holding Horatio ordering him to put the redhead down on the bed. The man Horatio hit initially got to his feet and suddenly lunged at Horatio, still in the other man's grasp, his fist made contact with the redhead's mouth. Horatio's blood splattered against the nearby wall as the man holding him let go allowing Horatio to fall down in a heap onto the wooden bed. The impact jarred Horatio enough that for a moment he almost lost consciousness.
Chien was furious. "Pick him up and put him in the van. We've been here too long already. Time to go to the Glades."
Not one team member had gone home. They stayed, hoping to find the clue leading them to Horatio's location. Calleigh, Frank and Kyle were still sitting in Horatio's office later that night when an anxious Walter appeared at the door. "Sarge, Phen wants to meet with you."
Frank's eyes darted to Calleigh's and for a brief moment they exchanged a fleeting sense of hope.
"Does that mean he's going to tell us where Dad is?" Kyle asked expectantly.
"Let's hope so," Frank replied as he walked quickly out of the office, headed for the interrogation rooms.
Eric was waiting on the detective and after the big man stopped outside the door of room #3, Eric relayed, "He's nervous…but I think he's ready to cut a deal." Frank nodded his head as he opened the door and he and Eric stepped inside, closing the blinds afterward, blocking anyone's view.
TBC…