Title: Club Descent: Accused (11/11)

Author: Aeon Cole

Beta: sharpiesgal/Dino

Rating: FRAO

Warning: Slash

Fandom: CSI: Miami

Pairing: Horatio/Speed

Spoilers: None

Challenge: 50 Dark Fics

Prompt: #25 Destiny

Word Count: 2540

Summary: A discovery in a quarry lake brings back some old memories and puts Max in a tight spot.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

"This is weird," Eric said. "Gus' file doesn't say anything about being wounded in action. In fact, he never even made it overseas. I don't get it."

"Let me take a look," Calleigh said. She paged through Gus' military file until she got to his discharge. "He does have a medical discharge but I don't see a medical record with this."

Rick walked into the room just then. "That's because there isn't a military medical record." They both looked over at him. Rick held up a folder. "He was treated at a civilian hospital after a fight in a bar." He handed Eric the folder. "He was hit in the head with a baseball bat. Three guesses by who."

Eric looked at the page Rick had marked then handed the file over to Calleigh. "You've got to be kidding," she said. She went to the computer and pulled up the military record for Samuel Conner. "The dates match. Conner was discharged for putting a fellow Marine in the hospital after a fight. His record doesn't name that Marine because he didn't file charges."

"No," Rick said. "But the civilian police file does name Metzger's assailant."

"How did you manage to piece this all together?" Eric asked.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "I didn't go home last night," he said.

Eric glanced at Calleigh suddenly feeling a little guilty. "You stayed here all night?" he asked.

"The whole thing was still bothering me. I went back over the old files and ran across the military record that Calleigh found six months ago. It started me thinking. In particular, why wasn't the other party identified?"

"I wondered that too," Calleigh said. "But it wasn't relevant to the last investigation."

Rick explained what he'd found. "The fight took place in a civilian bar while both men were on leave. Conner had just returned from Iraq and Metzger had just finished basic training and was newly assigned to the unit. Conner was already a loose cannon. He'd been disciplined several times while overseas for violence toward other soldiers. He was on the verge of being dishonorably discharged. His final psych eval listed latent homosexuality as the cause of his violent behavior. Apparently Metzger propositioned him and that's what set him off."

"So we bring him in," Eric said hopefully.

"Yeah, well, that may be a problem," Rick said.

"Why? We know he had motive now," Eric insisted.

"Maybe, maybe not," Rick said cryptically. "According to the medical record he had no memory of the attack when he came out of the coma. Even after he was told what had happened he refused to believe it. He saw Conner as a war hero. That's why he never pressed charges."

"So none of this counts for anything?" Eric asked clearly frustrated by what Rick had just told them.

"We'd have to prove that he regained his memory of the attack and that he put two and two together to connect Conner with Simon Cole." Rick sighed. "And we have another problem. There's a report in the original file from last October written by one of the uniformed officers from the day Tim Speedle's apartment was broken into that says that Max threatened to kill Simon Cole on more than one occasion."

Eric's head fell. "Max didn't do this," he said quietly. Calleigh laid a hand on his arm. "But all the evidence says he did. This guy is good. He had to be planning this for a while to work out all of these details."

Just then Ryan came skidding into the room. "You guys have to see this," he said then darted out again. The other three exchanged a glance then followed Ryan back to the AV lab. He directed their attention to the monitor. "This is the video from the security camera outside the building across the street from the club the night Gus' car was allegedly stolen."

They all looked in his direction when he used the word allegedly. Ryan pointed at the monitor again. The camera had a good shot of the lot and the street in front of the club. Just at the edge of the camera's field of view was a bus stop. They watched as a city bus pulled up and a man got off then the bus pulled away. Ryan froze the picture and played with the controls until he had zoomed in on the man's face and brought the shot back into focus. There was no mistaking who it was.

Rick stared at the monitor for a moment before asking, "This is definitely the night he reported his car stolen?"

"According to the date stamp it is," Ryan answered. "His car wasn't taken from the club that night because it was never there."

"This whole thing has been an elaborate plan to kill the man who ended his military career," Eric said.

"But how did he find Conner," Rick asked. "It's been thirteen years. He changed his name and dropped off the radar ten years ago."

Eric had a sudden brainstorm. "A year ago, we put out a bolo. We plastered his likeness all over the news. Sent out posters all over the area, all with Simon's picture."

Rick's face lit up suddenly. "You're right. Didn't Gus say that he came to Miami about a year ago?" The others nodded. "Maybe he saw one of the flyers. It could have triggered his memory."

"We gotta bring him in," Eric said.

"We need a plan first," Rick said.

ooo

Tim was busy in the study packing his books into boxes. Horatio was supposed to be helping him but somehow he seemed to be doing most of the work himself. He turned to the redhead and saw him standing in one place staring at the wall.

"You ok, Horatio?" he asked.

"Huh," Horatio said as he turned toward Tim.

Tim put down the small pile of books he was holding and took a step toward Horatio. "Are you ok? You seem distracted."

Horatio was silent for a moment. He hadn't realized quite how distracted he'd become by his conversation with Eric the night before.

"Sorry," he said. "I, um…" He paused trying to decide how to tell Tim he'd gone back on his promise, not to mention what he'd found out about Max.

Tim reached out and took Horatio's hand. "What is it, Horatio?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

Horatio ducked his head. He spoke without meeting Tim's eyes. "I, um, I talked to Eric last night, after you were asleep." Tim raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. I know I said I wasn't going think about work this week but when we were at Max's last night I saw something. I had to check it out."

"What did you see?"

"There was a car in front of Max's house. When I talked to Eric he confirmed that Stetler ordered a stakeout. They have some evidence to, um… to suggest Max may have been the one to kill Simon."

Tim stared in disbelief. "No," he whispered. "Max wouldn't do that."

"Eric doesn't think so either. He thinks he's being framed by someone else," Horatio said. "I'm waiting for him to call me back with more information."

Tim started pacing the room. He turned to face Horatio. "Why didn't you say something to Max last night?"

Horatio shook his head. "I didn't know why the car was there. It could have been protection. I could have been wrong altogether. I didn't know what was going on at the time."

Tim took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok," he said. "I have to call Max."

"No," Horatio interrupted. "You can't do that yet. Wait until Eric calls. We could jeopardize the investigation."

"I'm not a cop, Horatio, and Max is my friend," Tim said. "I need to talk to him."

Horatio was regretting having said anything. "Look, you could be putting him in danger if you say anything. Eric promised to call me this morning with more information. We need to wait."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing, Horatio," Tim insisted, the frustration was clear in his voice.

Horatio's cell phone rang causing them both to jump. Horatio quickly fished it out of his pocket. "Yeah," he said into the mouthpiece.

"We're bringing Max into protective custody," Eric said. "I don't have time to give you all the details but he should be here shortly."

"You found evidence?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, but I have to get going. He'll be here if you want to come down to the station."

"Thanks, Eric. We'll be there." He snapped his phone shut. "I don't know all of the details but they took Max into protective custody. They must think the guy who's trying to frame him may try to harm him. We can go see him."

Tim headed for the door then turned back to Horatio. "What are you waiting for?" he asked. As they walked out to the car he asked, "Do they know who it is?"

Horatio nodded. "Gus," he said. "I don't know anything else yet."

ooo

They arrived at the station and found Max and Michael waiting in one of the interrogation rooms. Horatio noticed that Max was sitting patiently while Michael was pacing the room looking more than a little put out. They walked in and Michael was the first to say anything.

"Horatio! Thank God. They won't tell us anything. What the hell is going on," he said all in one breath.

Horatio placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Relax, Michael," he said and saw Max smirk. "I'm going to try to find out what's going on right now."

Tim went straight to Max's side. "Are you ok?" he asked. Max just nodded. Tim sat in the chair next to him. He leaned in close and spoke quietly. "Horatio says Gus is the one who did this." Again Max nodded.

Tim rested his hand on his friend's arm. He knew Max would be upset by all of this. He'd begun to consider Gus a friend. He placed a lot of weight on his gut feeling about people and to find out he was so wrong about the man, about a fellow Marine, would affect him in ways Tim couldn't imagine.

There was knock at the door and a uniformed officer poked his head in. "Lieutenant Caine?" Horatio walked over to the door. "I was told to give this to you, sir," he said as he handed over a file.

"Thank you," Horatio responded and took the file.

He sat down at the table and started reading. Michael sat next to Max and put and arm around him. They sat in silence as Horatio familiarized himself with the information in the file.

ooo

Eric pulled the Hummer up behind the unmarked car in front of Gus' apartment building. He, Ryan and Stetler stepped out. The officers assigned to the stakeout walked up to them.

"He still in there?" Rick asked.

"Yes, sir," one of the officers answered.

Rick nodded. "Ok," he said then turned to the others. "Let's play this carefully. As far as we know he has no idea we know anything. We coax him out with the story we agreed on. Once he's out, we grab him."

"Right," Ryan said. "We tell him we have the killer in custody and we need him to come down to sign some papers for the release of his car."

They entered the building and took the stairs to the third floor. The plan was for Ryan to make the contact while the others stayed to the side out of sight until Gus stepped out of the apartment. However, as they approached his door they heard a loud pop, the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. All three men hit the deck and reached for their weapons. They remained frozen for several moments before Rick signaled for them to move in closer to the door.

He and Eric exchanged a glance. Then standing to the side of the door, Rick reached over with his gun and tapped at the door. "Miami Dade police," he yelled. "Open up."

No one answered. He repeated himself. When no one answered the second time he tried the doorknob only to find it unlocked. Cautiously they entered. In the main room they found the body of Gus Metzger, single gunshot wound to the head with the gun still in his hand. After clearing the rest of the apartment they started searching.

ooo

Horatio's cell phone rang. He answered it and listened for a moment then he said, "Thanks," before snapping it shut. He looked at the others. "Gus is dead. Suicide."

An hour later Eric walked into the interrogation room and pulled Horatio out. "Ryan and Calleigh are still going through Gus' apartment but we found years worth of newspaper clippings, letters to the military requesting information, and FOIA paperwork, all of it basically the same. He's been trying to find Conner for the better part of the past ten years."

"There were hundreds of newspaper clippings about bias crimes, assaults and crimes against gays all over the south. He had public records from a lot of them. He also had copies of the flyers we sent out last year with the sketch of Simon Cole. His showing up in Miami when he did was no accident. He even had a copy of the police report that was filed after Tim's assault last year. He'd been planning this for years, H."

Horatio took a deep breath trying to take in everything Eric was telling him. After a moment he glanced back into the room and said, "The important thing here, Eric, is that this is finally over."

ooo

Epilogue

Two weeks later.

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Horatio stretched and rolled over in bed as his mind slowly cleared from the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time. He reached out but encountered an empty space and cold sheets. He opened his eyes, momentarily disoriented. It took him a minute to realize where he was. He was still becoming used to the look and feel of the new house. He sat up in bed and looked around. He wasn't too concerned about Tim's absence.

He recognized the scent of coffee wafting up to the second floor and was fairly certain he knew where to find his missing spouse. He rolled out of bed and glanced at the clock. He'd slept much later than he'd planned. After grabbing a pair of sweat pants he headed out into the hallway and down the stairs. He had to sidestep a couple of boxes that they had yet to unpack to make his way to the kitchen. He poured himself a mug of coffee and walked out onto the back deck that overlooked the beach.

He walked to the edge of the deck and leaned up against the railing watching the lone figure sitting out on the sand by the water's edge. Horatio absently wondered how long he'd been sitting out there, but he soon realized that the fact that he was sitting out there was the important thing.

Fin