Chapter 13

"What's the status, Frank?"

Horatio had gotten the call from the watch on the luxury condo on his way back home after dropping Anita off at her hotel.

"We've got them trapped on the twenty-ninth floor just under where we had the setup. The problem is it's a standoff because there is one occupied apartment on that floor. They've got an elderly couple locked up."

"Flash bomb?" Horatio referred to the bombs that produced a great flash of light and a sound that deafened anyone without ear protection. It disoriented the victims to the point they were incapacitated long enough to be taken into custody.

"The gang has enough guys to cover every entry point from where they are. No one can get close enough to do the job effectively."

"So?"

"They also disabled the elevators. It'll take several hours to put the wiring back together. To keep the SWAT guys on the top floor occupied we're going to try to find a way down through the floor to where the couple is being kept. We're calling the contractor now for a copy of the building plans. If there are any conduits we might be able to get down there."

"Alternatives?"

"The usual; talking with them, telling them their target isn't actually in the building. The thing is they might decide to settle in until we bring the Liangs to them."

"Well, let's wait and see what the building plans show."

"Hey H, we got here as soon as we could. We have vests and rifles."

Eric stood shoulder to shoulder with Ryan and Walter.

"Lottie sure wasn't happy with me running off."

Eric pushed at the big man's shoulders. "You haven't told her yet that she has to get used to it?"

Walter just looked at the ground and shook his head. "Tonight was kind of a special deal."

"It happens, man, you know that."

"Yeah, part of raising my hand and swearing I'd uphold the law, blah, blah, blah, I know."

"If I can interrupt this little tear jerk fest, can we get to the truck and take a look at the floor plans? I just got them." Frank's face showed no sympathy for Walter's dilemma.

Ten minutes later, the hushed voice of the lead on the SWAT team, was heard over Frank's phone. "The only problem with that is our guy would have to remove his vest to get through such a small space."

He was talking about the only man on his team who was small enough to get through a heat duct in the wall. Through it he could be lowered in to the floor below. Without protection, however, that could be setting him up for murder.

Everyone stood down for a moment lost in thoughts about what would lead to a solution to the problem.

"Do we know where everyone on that floor is located?"

"What are you talking about, Walter?" asked Horatio.

"Well, it would help to know if any of the gang is in the apartment where the couple is. We know they have the elevators and exits from the stairs onto that floor covered. Maybe they are only guarding the couple's apartment from the outside. Provided no one is in the apartment with them, I'm thinking that one extra guy coming in from another angle might be what we need. That way, it covers the SWAT guy and keeps the couple safe."

Horatio's voice dropped to a deep whisper. "Walter, any thoughts on how that might be accomplished?"

In spite of his boyish appearance, Walter was extremely intelligent and at his best when thinking on his feet. "Let's check out how to get up through a vent. There might be one that goes directly down from the top floor past the one below and on down. Now, suppose the SWAT team could lower a rope through the vent to a guy below and then pull him up?"

"Then what?" Eric asked with a tone of belligerence in his voice.

"Each of the air vent outlets into the apartments is pretty big so it's no problem to gain entry to the floor from the vent. Then one guy could cause a disturbance while the other took down whoever is covering the stair entrance."

"Eric, I think he might have an idea here. We first have to determine if anyone is standing guard over the couple. If not, then the entire gang is likely to be in the hall. At most they would be standing at the door and would be distracted before thinking to go hold the couple hostage."

Ryan was nodding. "Well, Frank, are you ready to be hauled up through a pipe?"

The large man looked down at Ryan and then over at Horatio. "Guess who the most likely candidate for this job is?"

"Are you sure?" Eric had a glint of evil joy in his eyes.

"I don't have any other little guys on the police force with me tonight."

Several eyes strayed over to the uniformed officers standing around. All were six feet and over, broad shouldered, and well-muscled in general. Then the gaze returned to look at Ryan.

Realizing what the men were saying, Ryan's eyes opened wide at the prospect. "Aw, c'mon!"

Walter slapped his pal on the back. "Hey, stripped down to your skivvies, a little lard from head to toe, you'll slip through with no problem."

"If they hear me in the pipe and start firing, what then?" Ryan's voice began to crack from the stress he was feeling.

"We're not going to send you up there without a plan to keep you safe, Ryan," Horatio assured him.

Forty-five minutes later, Ryan was standing among ten other men. Not quite in his skivvies, he was wearing light leotard pants and a skin tight, long sleeved t-shirt. Without this protection, the inside of the vent, made of thin aluminum stretched over a cross-wire frame, would have scratched his skin to the bone before he was pulled five feet. The tube was so narrow, he realized he would have to hold both of his arms over his head with the rope wrapped around both wrists as he held on to it. He couldn't imagine how the other man was going to go down.

He was fairly well armed with a gun tucked into the waistband and as many ammunition clips taped to various parts of his body as seemed logical considering what was ahead. He also had two flash bombs.

After a great deal of communication with the SWAT team on the top floor, it was decided that the man above would enter an apartment at another end of the floor from where Ryan would go in. Each would toss a flash bomb into the hall in front of the apartment where the couple was and then shoot down as many of the culprits as possible. Then they would toss another flash bomb in the opposite direction and shoot again. The plan was set up to avoid getting shot at if possible.

Getting his reassurances from his teammates and Horatio, even getting a grudging nod and "luck" from Frank, Ryan wriggled into the vent from his back into a seated position, then found the rope and pulled it down so Horatio could tie it for him. The knot was such that a tug with his teeth would release it. The hard part was going to be bracing himself against the walls of the vent, unscrewing the cover to the vent up there, and then getting into the chosen apartment.

When he raised his hands up and tugged on the rope, his ascent began. This became the ten most agonizing moments in the CSI's life.

First, in the dusty darkness, he realized he was claustrophobic. 'Great! What a fine time to find this out.' he thought. He raised his head, hoping to see light from the vent above him. There was nothing except powdery grime drifting down. Halfway up, he realized he hadn't called Yelina. What an awful shock it would be to her if anything happened to him. Even so, he would have a lot of explaining to do. Suddenly he felt helpless, suffocated, wanted to sneeze out the particles filling his nose and knew he couldn't. Breathing through his mouth brought a metallic taste across his tongue and to the back of his throat inspiring a desire to cough. He could feel the rough interior of the small vent that carried the air conditioned air up the building's walls through the thin covering over his skin. The tugs on the rope began to chafe his wrists and he felt like his arm muscles were going to be pulled from the attachments to the shoulder blades. Finally, ages after the ascent had begun, the screen over the opening to the apartment appeared in his vision.

Fifteen minutes later, the trip up the vent forgotten, Ryan checked the time. According to the heat signatures recorded from several angles, all of the gang members were in the hallway. The guess was that the couple had locked their doors and the gang couldn't break in. These condos were designed to protect their dwellers as much as provide comfort.

He watched the second hand on his wrist tick from marker to marker as the minute hand slowly wended its way to the target time. Finally he slowly opened the door a crack and swiftly closed it again. A figure was passing by. A moment later, he opened the door again and found the area in front clear. He held his arm taught ready to pull, throw, and close on the designated moment.

At last, the time came. Ryan opened the door, threw the flash bomb and closed it with barely enough time to hold his hands over his ears. The other blast was so close the people in the hall no doubt heard it as one. Then, just as quickly as he had closed the door, Ryan pulled it open again and started firing at the men who were stumbling about in a daze. He first picked out those who still held their weapons in spite of the shock to their systems. Then he spied the ones who were close to the stairwell entrance.

At the first shot that ricocheted off the wall near him, he dodged back into the room and waited for the gunfire to stop. Then, after a quick count of five, he opened the door and threw out another flash bomb and repeated his previous efforts.

His last memory was seeing the man in the corner to the right of him, holding a gun aimed at him.

Ryan came out of a swirling dark place, feeling his hair being softly stroked. Yelina's classically beautiful face was close to his, her eyes were staring with loving concern into his own.

"Hey, the hero awakes," she said softly, her voice filled with care and love.

His first attempt at words was a mere mumble. He licked his lips and tried again. "I don't feel like a hero." His voice had a peculiar creaky quality to it.

"You and SWAT Officer White took out almost everyone on that floor. He came out clean and you shot the man who fired at you before you went down."

"I sure don't remember anything like that."

He heard another voice, "Well, believe it, Mr. Wolfe. I already filed for a commendation for you."

Thinking he'd rather have not gotten shot, Ryan mumbled his thanks.

As his vision cleared, he noticed Eric, Walter and Frank standing outside of the room looking in through the window.

Seeing Ryan's eyes go to his friends, Horatio said, "They'll be able to come in after Yelina and I leave. Only a maximum of three visitors to a room is allowed."

"You better tell them to hurry up. I'm not doing too well."

Yelina bent over and gave her lover a kiss. "I love you. I have some work to do anyway. I'll be back tonight."

"I'll check on you tomorrow." Horatio paused, a look of sad relief emanating from his eyes. "I'm glad you'll be alright."

Moments later, Ryan was being gently chided for ruining some expensive carpeting in the condominium hallway with his blood. He was too 'under the influence' to remind his buddies that there was more blood from the men he had shot than from his own.

Outside the room, Yelina confided with Horatio. "The doctors say he should recover from the shoulder wound with no after effects."

"He had us all scared for a while."

After a pause, Horatio went on, "How are you doing Yelina?"

"You mean am I afraid this is going to be you and I all over again?" She was referring to when he had refused her help after he had gotten shot. It had been part of the reason for their second breakup. "No, Horatio. Ryan is a different man from you or from what your brother, Ray, was. He is his own man and yet doesn't mind being taken care of now and then." She said the last in a tone that was almost happy.

Horatio nodded, almost ready to keep his silence. Instead, he asked, "Yelina, have you ever regretted not having more children?"

Yelina's eyes widened at the unexpected question. "Why? Do I sound like I need to mother Ryan?"

Horatio shook his head slowly. "No, that isn't what I meant. I mean, you do sound, well, like you are looking forward to nursing Ryan. I know I fought it and Ryan most likely will not. You are a natural at it though, and I, well, I wondered if you would have liked more children."

If anyone else had asked, Yelina might have been insulted at the exploration into her personal thoughts and feelings; however, this was Horatio, family, brother-in-law, and friend. She felt no hesitation about answering. "Sure, if Ray had lived. I would have loved to have as many kids as possible. I don't think much about it now. Taking care of Ryan now, well, that's just part of the relationship. You never saw it that way." She allowed her eye to twinkle ever so slightly.

"No, I didn't, did I?" Horatio gave Yelina a small, mirthless smile.

The two separated down different hallways to get to their cars.

Yelina had always been glad she had not told Horatio of her decision not to get involved with a Caine man ever again. She would always love Horatio for his kindness and care, but he had a mean streak sometimes. It wasn't as bad as Ray's and didn't surface as often. Still, it hurt just as much. Ryan was so incredibly opposite, she never had a worry that he would ever turn on her.

Horatio's thoughts were being driven in another direction. He was wondering what made men like himself into loners no matter how hard he tried to develop a family. He and his brother had never seen any kind of gentle love expressed between either of his parents. His mother, in desperation, had once tried approaching him when he was a young teen. That had scared him spitless. His first wife's death had put a shadow over his life in New York but then Marisol's murder seemed like the last hope he had ever had of love. He could take care of others, financially anyway, but share love? He wasn't so sure.

"What's the score, gentlemen?" Horatio didn't raise his eyes from his examination of the lab floor.

Eric referred to a sheet of paper. "Ryan and Officer White put down six gang members. Two others were wounded. One more was caught trying to flee and one was wounded and later died in the hospital before he said anything."

Walter continued, "I talked with the two in the hospital. I convinced one he wasn't going to live. Rather than go to meet his maker with all of his crimes hanging over his head, he fessed up to everything from his juvey crimes up to this. I even got him to sign a confession."

Horatio shifted his weight. He quietly asked, "And the other?"

Walter shook his head. "No dice. Says the other guy is lying, says they were hired by the couple on the floor above to protect them from attack. The idea was they were to stay on the floor below to stop anyone from getting up there. He's charging victimization."

Horatio's eyes crinkled as he continued looking downward. "Well, that's unique, to say the least. Be sure he's hauled to booking the second he's released from the hospital.

"Eric, see if Calleigh has any information on where the gang center is. We need to catch Tito Yamaguchi. He set this up so we know what he is capable of."

Walter was already on his cell and Eric pulled his own out to contact Calleigh.

"She said she's already on it. They're in the back of a storefront at a mini-mall. The store is supposedly a computer repair place." Eric didn't sound hopeful.

"Also, she said to tell you that Ian called her. He checked on variations of the Braillsson name in high end condo and mansion sales and found four recently bought." Eric handed over a piece of paper with the names and addresses.

Calleigh laid the laptop on the counter. "I just cain't affo'd a new computah at this time. I'm really hopin' y'all can he'p me." She hoped she wasn't laying the accent on too thick. To counteract it, she smiled and batted her eyes innocently.

The youth behind the counter was black and showed no signs of Asian heritage. Nor did his reply display any interest in her or whether he cared about the computer. "A basic check-out is seventy-five dollars. Any repairs will be extra."

"Oh dear, that is sure mighty expensive. Are you going to be doing the work?"

"No, I just work part time, take in the computers."

Calleigh looked around the young man's shoulders and peered at the curtained entry to the back. "Is the repair person here? Or maybe a manager?"

The late teen glanced at the curtain nervously. "He'll call after he's looked at it, okay?"

Calleigh backed down. "Okay, I guess. Do you know how long it'll take?"

Pulling out a ticket from under the counter, he replied, "Three days. Now, name?"

Calleigh gave both a false name and phone and left the store as soon as she thought it was right.

She drove down the block, parked and got into the Humvee beside Frank. "There's definitely someone in the backroom of the store."

"Okay, I'll give the word." Frank picked up his phone and gave directions to the men lying in wait in the alley at the back of the store.

At the same time, he carefully pulled out into traffic and then sped up to the end of the alley. Ripping around the corner and roaring through the narrow backstreet, the car pulled to a screeching halt in the rear of the store. Climbing down from the hummer, Frank and Calleigh were surrounded by SWAT officers in full gear and regular uniforms in vests.

The surprise on the faces of the gang members who were lolling around the back entrance was almost laughable. Their first impulse was to run and for them to see they were cut off at all angles but up puzzled them. One did try to shinny up an old telephone pole but with no spikes on his boots, all he got was a handful and legs full of splinters as gravity pulled him down.

Moments later, the young black man was being hauled out with two others who didn't look quite like the white and Latino mix of gang members.

Frank grunted. "Which of these don't match?"

Calleigh handed out the last of the strip ties from the back of the car. "I'm guessing they were helping to keep up appearances in the store."

"Not an Asian in the bunch though."

"I bet Yamaguchi is in the wind for now. That's okay. We have his MO. We'll send it out to other major cities. He'll be caught soon enough."

The two watched as the last of the gang was herded into the large transport followed by four heavily armed SWAT members. The doors closed on four faces just begging the shackled prisoners to try anything.

Calleigh's phone rang.

Moments later, after Frank dropped her off at her car, she took a moment to gather herself together. The idea that the rest of the team was on the trail of the Braillssons was very good news. The idea they were doing it without her, hurt. Again and again, she had to tell herself, 'This is a good thing.' Still, that cry in the back of her mind, 'I want my baby!' screeched to drown out the quiet reason.

TBC