AN: Sorry for the long update… I got sick… again.
Nurses and doctors ran towards the room, to put out the fire. Ryan ran after the young girl. She was fast and Ryan only managed to keep up with her because she used the stairs to get down to the parking lot. Ryan yelled for her to stop. Back at the room, the doctors had managed to put the fire out, and now the patient was dead. The burn wounds so bad that there was no way of saving her life. Two officers asked the doctors where Ryan went. Once they got their answer, the ran after.
"Stop, MDPD!" Ryan shouted.
Of course the girl didn't stop. Soon she was out the door and running across the parking lot. Ryan had gained on her, and took his gun out of his holster.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" He shouted.
He tried aiming at the girl's leg, while on the same time keeping up with her. He wanted her to be caught alive. The officers soon ran out on the parking lot too. They too aimed their guns at the girl and ran after her.
Suddenly the girl turned down a small path through some bushes and after that she suddenly ran through a park. People started screaming when they saw Ryan running after her with his gun. Both Ryan and the girl started getting tired, but no one wanted to be the first one to give up. Ryan wouldn't allow himself to give up. Soon they reached the harbor and without hesitation the girl jumped down in the water. Ryan followed her.
The girl was not only a fast runner, but a fast swimmer too. Ryan had never been good at swimming. The officers decided to stay on dry land, and call the coast guard instead. Ryan got a little nervous as he followed the girl out on deeper water. There was always a risk that a shark could show up. He had had enough of sharks on his honeymoon.
"Stop, dammit!" He growled.
The girl made a mistake of looking back at Ryan, it gave him the opportunity to see her face.
"Stop!" He shouted.
The girl turned her head around again and continued swimming. Ryan dropped his gun. He tried grabbing it on its way down to the bottom. But no such luck. He cursed and decided to just quickly dive down and get it. He would need it, when he reached dry land again. The girl was just a few feet away from the shore on the other side of the small water canal. As Ryan dived down and opened his eyes. He got the shock of his life. Three children were tied together under the water. Ryan got so shocked that he forgot to swim. He started sinking to the bottom, and suddenly became aware of the lack of air. He panicked and tried to swim up to the surface. His leg hit one of the bodies and he jerked away. After a few minutes he finally gasped for air above the surface. The officers yelled to him, asking him if he was alright.
"I found three bodies!" He yelled back, trying to catch his breath.
He looked around for the girl, and saw her run away on the shore. Then the coast guard showed up. They picked him up and drove him to dry land.
-I-
Jason looked nervously in the rear-view mirror. Janet yawned. The blood loss and lack of sleep made her tired. Luckily Valera hadn't woke up yet.
"Nervous are we?" Janet asked, smirking.
Jason nodded. He was so scared that his face was completely pale and he could barely breath. He didn't fear for his own life, only the life of his girlfriend and unborn children. Without Valera he was nothing. Janet smirked at Jason. The more nervous he was, the more he would obey her.
"Are we there yet?" She asked.
"N-not yet." Jason stammered.
His hands were shaking. He had to fight to keep the car straight. He prayed to God that there would be officers at the hospital. The only problem was that he would probably be used as a hostage. And that would make the whole situation much more difficult.
"You t-tried killing Lt. Caine." Jason said.
"He survived? How nice, and yeah, I did. I was going to be paid good money for it too… but then the bitch had to die."
"Raquel Delko?"
"Yeah… I see you're not completely stupid." Janet smirked.
"No, I hang around with CSI's." Jason said, and then cursed at himself.
Janet smirked at Jason's mistake. Now everything got much more interesting for her. She was actually sitting in a car that belonged to a friend of the CSI team. She knew without a doubt that it had to be the day shift CSI's.
"You know Caine as a friend." She smirked, "Interesting. Then I suppose you know where his boyfriend is now too?"
Jason shook his head, "No I don't."
"Liar. He has to be at the hospital, going crazy with worry." Janet laughed evilly, "Lets pay him a little visit."
"Why? So you can shoot him too?"
"No, so that he can watch when I shoot you!" Janet growled, "Keep on driving."
Jason drove slower the usual, just to see if Janet would eventually pass out from the blood loss.
-I-
20:00
Danny and Natalia joined Ryan at the harbor. Divers were just carrying three small bodies up on dry land. Three children. Natalia recognized them. Their photos had been among the photos Erica had given the team.
"This is the first time we've ever found bodies of the missing children." Danny said, "I heard you found one of them alive."
"Yeah, Emma." Natalia sighed, "How can somebody do this?"
Alexx pulled up at the crime scene. She had tears in her eyes when she saw the bodies. Since the letters to Erica, had come without a return address. The team would have no choice but to release the pictures to the media, and hope that a parent would show up. Danny started taking photos of the bodies. Natalia tried to keep herself from crying.
"Why don't you head back to the lab?" Danny asked gently.
He saw how difficult it was for the team. And of course it was difficult for him too. Natalia nodded and left the crime scene. Ryan was sitting in an ambulance, after being checked over. He stood up and walked towards Danny.
"I will never get the image of them under water out of my head." He sighed.
Danny nodded in understanding. He would never the image of the bodies lying in front of him at the moment out of his head either. Then again, he had never forgotten a victim's face. Alexx sighed and started examining the bodies.
"TOD is a bit more then an hour ago." She said after a while, "I'll know COD after the autopsy."
Danny nodded, "Do you know how long these kids have been missing?"
"I will check in the letters." Ryan muttered, "Do you mind if I…?"
"No, not at all. I don't think there is much we can do at the scene anyway." Danny said.
Ryan nodded and left the scene just like Natalia. Alexx stayed behind a while longer, waiting for Danny to finish. She didn't feel like leaving him alone in Miami. Even if he was surrounded by officers who would gladly drive him to the lab. Once Danny was done he left with Alexx to the lab.
"You have kids?" He asked Alexx, after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes I do. Two." Alexx smiled slightly, "And you?"
"Nope. But I hope I'll have children one day."
Alexx nodded. Having children was one of the greatest gifts in life. Losing a child, was one of the hardest things. She could not really imagine loosing her own children. And she was sure that no parent ever could. One of the hardest thing for the mothers of the three children, had to be the fact that they were intimidated into silence. They wrote to Erica, asking for help, but somehow they were too scared to tell her who they were. Someone sure had all these mothers on a leash. Once back at the lab. Danny joined Calleigh as she was checking the letters. Natalia and Ryan had needed some time to cool off, so they had disappeared somewhere in the lab.
"Hey Danny." Calleigh said, "It seems as if our first victim's name was Minny, she's four years old and have been missing for almost 6 months."
Danny was shocked to hear that. The children from New York that had been gone the longest, were two months ago.
"Victim number two was called Casper, six years old and been missing for four months. Victim number three is a John Doe. But he's been missing for six months too." Calleigh sighed.
Each letter was connected to a photo, therefore it was easy to find out how long the children had been missing. The mothers had at least written that down.
"We need to show the kid's pictures all over the nation." Danny said.
"Yeah, I hate to say this, but once the child is gone, the mother has no reason to obey the pedophile." Calleigh said, "Alright. Our pedophile held these kids captured for so long and then suddenly decided to kill them almost an hour ago. Why?"
"Maybe he's relocating." Danny said, "He must feel unsafe here and is planning to move to another state."
"So he's killing the kids to make the move easier." Calleigh said, "That means we'll have a lot more bodies on our hands soon."
"But why kill the kids this time?" Ryan asked as he joined Danny and Calleigh, "I mean… why not all the other times he moved from a state? If he held on to Minny for six months, why kill her now?"
"Good point." Danny said, "Maybe he's having too many kids to handle. And the fact that Emma got away must freak him out."
"So what do we do?" Ryan asked.
"We check the victim's clothes when Alexx send them up." Calleigh said, "I'm sure they were locked inside somewhere, and there must be trace on their clothes."
Danny and Ryan nodded in agreement. It seemed as if they were finally getting somewhere with the case. They actually felt as if they were close to solving it.
"By the way, see if you can find a match to the fingerprints from the latest fire. In every way possible." Calleigh smiled at Danny.
-I-
21:00
Frank sighed as he sat down next to Eric. He had just told Eric everything that had happened during the last two hours. Eric looked sick. He was pale and shaking slithtly. Frank knew that he was losing hope. Hope that the case would be solved, and hope that Horatio would survive and forgive him for his mistake.
"Eric, don't loose hope." Frank said softly.
"How can't I?" Eric asked, "Everything is going straight to hell! I lost my mother today, and she hated me. I might loose my fiancé and the case is going to hell. We can't even find the person who killer my mother!"
"Eric, we will." Frank said, "We have the arsonist's DNA and fingerprint. Ryan is probably talking to a sketch artist right now, since he saw her face. We have the clothes from the children, most likely with trace on them. And we know that our arsonist stole gasoline from an expensive car to set the latest house on fire. I have dozens of officers out on the streets right now, asking every single car owner if they recently discovered that their gasoline was missing." Frank said.
Eric sighed. He knew Frank was right. They were so close of finding the pedophile and the arsonist. He had to believe in the team. He couldn't loose hope. And he had to believe that Horatio would survive. He was in surgery with the best doctors in Miami. If he lost hope, he would have nothing left. He stood up and went to the hospital's small church. It had been a long time since he had prayed, but he needed to do it now. Frank stayed behind. He knew what Eric was doing. If Frank had been a believer he would have been praying too. But he wasn't. He knew in his heart that Horatio would never leave Eric alone. Or the team. He knew he'd survive and soon be arguing about leaving the hospital. Even if he wasn't well enough. Frank though of old memories as he leaned back into the chair. He smiled and decided to rest just a little bit.
"Sleeping on the job are we?" A female voice asked.
Frank opened his eyes, he recognized the woman standing in the hallway with Jason in front of her. Frank stood up and reached for his gun.
"Don't even think about it!" Janet growled, "Put the gun on the floor."
Frank nodded and slowly put his gun on the floor. Janet smirked and pressed the knife harder against Jason's neck. Jason was so scared that he was shaking.
"Where is Maxine?" Frank asked, hoping that Janet hadn't hurt her.
"Oh she is in the trunk of the car. Dying slowly." Janet smirked.
Frank reached inside his suit for his phone.
"No!" Janet growled, "Put the phone on the floor."
Frank sighed and did what she said. Without his phone he couldn't tell anyone where Valera was, and she would suffocate to death.
"Chleo Kilmer." Frank said, "Put the knife down and talk to me."
"Ya think I'm stupid?" Chleo asked, "My name is Janet."
"No, that's your fake name." Frank said, "Your real name is Chleo Kilmer. You gave Raquel money to pay Jason Ash, so he could shoot Horatio Caine and Joseph Delko. And then you kidnapped Horatio Caine and were in a car crash with him."
"Shut up!" Chleo growled.
Not only did the blood loss starting to make her tired, but it also made her quite angry.
"We found your blood on the crime scene and your hair in the driver's seat." Frank said, "It's over Chleo."
"Well then I guess there is no reason for me to keep this guy alive." She smirked and pressed the knife harder against Jason's neck, "Or for me to even stay alive."
"Don't do anything stupid." Frank said.
"You mean like killing myself?"
"Exactly."
"Why not? Maybe I could kill both myself and my hostage. That way you will never know where I parked the car on the parking lot. And the pregnant bitch will die." Chleo laughed evilly, "That sounds like fun."
"Chleo, I'm asking you nicely to put the knife down." Frank said.
Frank could see Eric appear behind Chleo. He had just finished praying. Eric only saw Frank's worried look and the back of a woman. He didn't see Jason.
"Chleo Kilmer, calm down." Frank said, loud enough for Eric to hear, "Don't kill your hostage."
Eric's eyes widened when he heard who was standing in front of him. Chleo Kilmer! The woman responsible for putting H in the hospital, twice actually. The nurses had also noticed the situation and called the police.
"Who are you looking at?" Chleo asked, when she noticed how Frank always looked passed her.
She turned around and stood with her back towards a wall. That way it would be harder for the cops to shoot her, and she could see everyone around her.
"Oh it's the faggot!" She smirked when she saw Eric.
"You bitch." Eric cursed.
Frank glared at him. The last thing that anybody needed was for Chleo to become even more angry and kill Jason or herself.
"Ya know what? I killed your mother." Chleo smirked.
"I found an arrow and a bow in the Glades, sneaked up on a hill, that I knew was high enough for me to shoot into the prison. And then I killed your mommy."
"That takes a lot of skill." Frank said.
"Well, I took lessons when I was a kid." Chleo smirked.
"And yet you missed the head." Eric muttered.
Chleo gave him a death glare. She knew that a better shooter would have shot Raquel in the head and not the back. She suddenly felt dizzy and closed her eyes for a second.
"You're loosing too much blood." Jason said.
"Shut up."
"Let the doctors help you." Jason said nervously, "You will die if you don't get help soon."
"It doesn't matter. I will be going to jail if I survive."
"It's better then being dead." Jason shrugged.
"If I go to jail, I'm just like dead." Chleo growled, "Now shut up."
Soon ten officers appeared in the hallway, all of them aiming their guns at Chleo.
"Put your guns down!" She growled.
"They won't do that." Eric said, "You're not strong enough to make ten cops put their guns down."
"I am strong!"
"A strong girl, ain't a coward like you are now!" Eric growled.
"A coward?"
"Yes, a coward. You're hiding behind a man, and you only have knife to protect you. You're scared aren't ya?"
"Never."
"Yes you are. And what will daddy think when his little girl's face is all over the news? That is what hurts you the most isn't it? To make daddy sad." Eric smirked.
"No it isn't!" Chleo shouted.
Eric knew he had hit a soft spot. Chleo was crying now. All her life she had tried being the perfect daughter. But her father was hard to please. He always found something new to complain about.
"Ya think you're daddy will be happy with you now?" Eric asked.
"He has never been happy with me! Never!"
"And this will only make it worse."
-I-
21:30
The news about the hostage situation hadn't traveled to the lab yet. So everybody their had no idea that Jason could die any minute. Danny hadn't found a match to the fingerprints in AFIS or anywhere else. But luckily, Calleigh and Natalia had found trace from the kid's clothes. Ryan was still sitting with a sketch artist, to paint the face of the arsonist. Alexx had finished autopsy, and COD was drowning.
"Guess where the dirt on the clothes is coming from?" Natalia asked happily.
"The Glades?" Calleigh asked.
Natalia nodded.
"Does everything come from the Glades?" Danny asked.
"No, but it is a good place for a criminal to hide." Calleigh said.
"Yeah, but this dirt comes from a specific place in the glades." Natalia smiled, "Shark's Bay."
"Our pedophile is hiding kids at a shark infested Bay?" Danny asked surprised.
"Yeah, nobody goes to Shark's Bay." Calleigh smirked, "How did you know it was from there anyway?"
"Shark blood. I found shark blood in the dirt." Natalia grinned, "We got our pedophile!"
"It seems like it." Calleigh smiled, "Alright, lets go!"
"Hold on Cal!" Natalia said, "You're not going anywhere."
Calleigh just laughed and left the lab. Danny followed closely behind. Natalia sighed and went after. There was no stopping Calleigh right now. Pregnant or not. She would drive to Shark's Bay.
-I-
Chleo felt dizzy again. She closed her eyes. The second she did. Frank ran towards her and knocked her down on the floor. She growled and moved to stand up. Frank pushed Jason out of harms way on the same time as Eric rushed to cuff Chleo. Chleo had managed to get up on her feet and she yelled and ran towards Frank. With her knife in her hand. She managed to stab Frank in the shoulder, on the same time as she was shot with a bullet through her head. Once she fell down on the floor, dead, everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Frank groaned and passed out. Blood gushing from his stab wound.
TBC…
AN: Please Review!