22:00
By now everybody knew that Frank had been stabbed in the shoulder. He had bleed a lot and was forced to go into surgery. But the doctors said he would be fine. Once Eric had found out where Calleigh and the rest were going he wanted to join them. Ryan had told him that if he showed up in the glades he would strap him to Alexx's table and cut something off. The tone of his voice mad it clear to Eric that there was no point of arguing. Instead Eric was sent home. Both by Ryan and a nurse who said he looked like he would pass out soon. Eric was tired. Really tired. He wanted to close his eyes, then wake up and realize that this was all a bad dream. In his heart he knew that it wasn't. His mind and body needed to rest, so therefore he was standing inside his and Horatio's house.
Their two Gran Danois, Waldo and Rascall jumped around him. Happy to see him. They wanted to go out and play too. Eric missed Horatio even more as he took the dogs out on the beach at the back of the house. They usually played with the dogs together. Now it was only Eric. He felt so lonely. When Eric didn't run around like a kid, Waldo and Rascall calmed down and simply walked beside him. It seemed as if they understood that Eric was troubled by something, they just didn't know what. Eric knew that they were probably used that Eric or Horatio worked late sometimes, that they thought this was just one of does nights. Horatio would come home later. Home. Frankly, Eric didn't know if this was their home anymore. Maybe Horatio wanted him to move out. Eric wouldn't be able to handle the pain, if Horatio woke up from surgery and told him to leave the house. After all, who wouldn't throw out their boyfriend if he had been cheating?
"I guess you like to sit alone on the beach and think, just like Horatio." Joseph said as he joined his son on the beach. He sat down next to his son. Eric hadn't realized that he had sat down, and had the dog's heads resting in his lap.
"A nurse told me she had sent you home." Joseph said, "And when I noticed that the house was completely dark, I figured that you were out here."
Eric didn't answer. He was ashamed of himself. He was the son who had once again made a mistake in a relationship, and who once again stood by the sideline unharmed as his lover fought for his life. How could Joseph want to be around someone who brought harm to others? Joseph had already been hurt because Raquel was mad at Eric. Because of something that Eric was, Joseph and Horatio had to pay the prize.
"Eric, you have nothing to be sorry for." Joseph said, as if reading his thoughts, "You did not bring this upon Horatio or anybody else."
"If I wasn't in love with Horatio none of this would have happened." Eric sighed.
"So you are going to deny yourself love because your mother decided to go crazy?" Joseph asked, "You don't want to love Horatio because of what she has done?"
Eric wanted to love Horatio, he couldn't stop loving him. But he didn't want Horatio to die because they loved each other. He wanted Horatio to be safe and happy.
"I want H to be safe and happy." Eric said.
"He is safe and happy with you. You know that."
"Safe? I have almost got him killed twice because I live with him." Eric snapped.
"That almost sounds as if you're blaming him."
"I could never blame him!"
"And he could never blame you." Joseph said, "Eric, do you know who you remind me of when you talk like this? With all these thoughts?"
"No."
"Horatio."
Eric looked surprised at Joseph. He was right of course. Eric thought the same thing Horatio did. That he brought danger to others. He was the reason his loved ones got hurt. Eric had always told Horatio that none of it was true. And yet he now thought the same thing.
"I guess you're right." Eric mumbled.
Joseph patted his shoulder.
"Not all the bad things that happen is because of you or H."
"This one is."
Joseph sighed. He knew he was not getting through to Eric. Not as much as he wanted to. Horatio was the only one who could make Eric understand that he had to stop blaming himself. Eric knew that if he had been with a girl, if he hadn't been with Horatio. None of this would have happened. If he hadn't hid it from his mother, she might not have been so angry. Yet he couldn't wish for it to go away.
"Eric… you have followed your heart in life this far, don't stop know."
-I-
22:15
It wasn't hard to find a house to keep kids in at Shark's Bay. Calleigh had noticed a small cabin right by the water, where sharks were swimming. It was now surroundedby cops. However, the team didn't believe that anyone was inside the house. There were no lights on in the house, and no sign of a car next to it. The pedophile would need a car to transport the kids to the house. Yet the team and the officers approached the house very cautiously. In case the pedophile had rigged the place with a bomb.
"A cabin this small can't contain many kids." Ryan whispered to Calleigh.
"There must be a basement." Calleigh said.
Slowly Natalia and Danny approached the door. Danny opened the door and peeked inside. Pizza and beer was visible on a table. Also clothes and some rope. The three dead kids had been tied together with rope, and a rock had been keeping them underwater. Danny entered the cabin and checked the bathroom, living room and kitchen.
"No kids." He sighed.
The rest of the team followed him inside.
"There must be a door to a basement somewhere." Calleigh said.
She started checking under carpets and even behind a small book shelf.
"Nothing." She sighed.
Danny suddenly noticed a small ring attached to the floor right at the sofa's leg. He moved the sofa out of the way and opened the shutter.
"I found a stair. This must be the basement." He said.
He turned on his flashlight and walked down the stairs, Ryan and Natalia followed closely. Calleigh decided to stay in the cabin.
"Wow." Ryan said, "This is a tunnel."
Natalia groaned as she saw a rat. She hated rats. Though the last thing anybody needed was for her to scream and hide, in case the pedophile was hiding down in the tunnel.
"I wonder who built this place." Danny said.
"Either someone who was really bored or someone who wanted to hide something here." Ryan said.
"The cabin is over 50 years old. This tunnel is probably just as old." Natalia said.
"Maybe our pedophile isn't the first one who has been here. Somehow our guy heard about this place." Ryan shrugged.
"Or he simply found it." Natalia sighed, "If I was a criminal I would definitely hide in the glades. And maybe our pedophile got lucky and found this place."
"Did you guys hear that?" Danny asked.
Ryan and Natalia listened closely, and then shook their heads.
"I heard something. Like someone calling for help." Danny said, walking faster down the tunnel.
"Is that a rat or a poodle?" Ryan asked as they walked by a big rat.
"Ryan, please don't mention rats." Natalia said.
"Why? Are you afraid?"
"Yes."
Ryan chuckled, "Alright, so maybe it was big poodle, with a naked tail and short hair. Black and really dirty. And likes to crawl, Ouch!"
Ryan rubbed his head, where Natalia had hit him.
"Ryan!" She growled.
"I sure hope our pedophile isn't down here, because if he is. You probably alerted him that we are coming." Danny said.
Ryan and Natalia apologized and continued to follow Danny, who was now running. Soon he stopped in front of a big door. They heard someone banging from the other side.
"Help!" Someone yelled.
"We're coming. We're cops!" Danny yelled back.
He sighed and cursed as the lock on the door had to be opened with a key.
"Can't we just shoot at the lock?" Natalia asked.
"And risk hurting the kids?" Ryan asked, "Besides this is an iron door, I don't know if a bullet will help."
"A sledgehammer or crowbar then?" Natalia asked.
Danny nodded to her. The three of them started checking for some type of tool to open the door with.
"Calleigh is a good shot, maybe she can shoot the lock." Ryan suggested.
"I found a sledgehammer!" Danny said.
He started hitting on the door with the hammer. The door was old and shook with every blow.
"Watch out so it doesn't fall on ya." Natalia said.
Eventually the door loosened and fell down on the ground with a loud bang. Several eyes started at Danny, Ryan and Natalia. They were all scared, and when Danny walked inside the room, they ran back deeper into the room.
"Hey there. I'm a police officer. I'm not going to hurt ya." Danny said, showing his badge to the kids.
"Where is the bad man?" A small brown haired boy asked.
"He's not here." Ryan said, "You're safe now. He will never hurt you again."
The small boy walked towards Danny and wrapped his arms around him. He started crying and Danny gently soothed him. When the other kids saw that Danny, Ryan and Nat were safe they ran towards them. They were so relieved that words could not describe it. Finally they would see their mothers again. They could finally go home.
-I-
22:35
Matthew sighed annoyed when his cousin Jerry walked through the gates at Miami International Airport. Jerry believed that the cops in New York were on to him, and he needed to get away. Matthew, started to get tired of constantly having to help his cousin. But they were family. Jerry wasn't as successful as Matthew when it came to child abduction. Jerry had managed to abduct and murder then kids. The 11th kid was the one who got away. Matthew, however, had kidnapped 30 kids, and murdered 3 of them, one little girl had gotten away. Therefore he now had 26 kids in his basement, that needed to be taken care of. He needed to leave America. Maybe he could try his luck in Europe or Asia. Matthew had always known that he was meant to kill people. He had no feelings, he was a cold hearted bastard. And he loved watching life disappear from someone, he could always see it in the victim's eyes. The three kids he had just murdered were the kids he had held to the longest. He didn't like them anymore. So he had to get rid of them. Now he needed Jerry's help to get rid of the rest of the kids. Jerry wasn't as cold hearted as Matthew. He had feelings. He always had to hurt himself after he had hurt someone else. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to be as successful as his cousin.
"Jerry, you are a total screw up." Matthew sighed as Jerry walked towards him.
"I'm sorry Matt."
Matt just sighed and walked towards his car. Jerry followed him like a dog. Jerry hated it when his cousin was mad at him. He wanted to be a good boy, not bad. Yet he always seemed disappoint Matthew.
"How come the kid got away?" Matthew asked as he drove back to the glades and his cabin. Unaware that the cops were there.
"I decided that I wanted to keep him longer. So I took him out shopping. He started fighting in the car and I knew I had to kill him. But the bastard kicked me in the face and almost broke my nose. He opened the car door and ran away." Jerry sighed.
"And how old was he?"
"Maybe five or six."
"You let a five year old win a fight?!" Matthew growled, "Wow, you're more stupid then I thought."
"I'm not stupid."
"You're weak Jerry. And that makes you stupid too." Matthew sighed, "I'm disappointed in you."
"I'll make it up to you."
"Damn right you will! I have a basement filled with 26 kids. They all need to die. Now we could just feed them to the sharks, but I'd rather not."
"Why not?"
"It takes to damn long. And there aren't that many sharks in Shark's Bay." Matthew said, "We'll strangle them, stab them. Whatever we need to do. But we have to leave for Europe, and start over there. And we can't travel with 26 kids."
Jerry nodded. He would have to do Matthew's dirty work.
-I-
23:00
Natalia sat on the hood of the hummer, with her head in her hands. Calleigh stood next to her, and gently rubber her back. Natalia had never heard of such evil. The kids had been through so much. Everybody were of course affected by this. But only Natalia seemed to lose complete focus from time to time. Danny and Ryan were counting the kids, while identifying them by looking at the pictures they got. Except for Emma and the three children who had died, they had identified 15 kids so far. And when asked what State or city they came from, it was mostly California, Texas, New York, Rhode Island and Chicago. The oldest kid was 8 years old and had been missing for three weeks. He was the child who had first spoken to Danny and Ryan.
"Think about all the mothers who will finally get their children back." Calleigh said.
"Think about the ones who won't get their children back." Natalia sighed.
Calleigh nodded in agreement. Some mother who be happier then anybody else. While others who be heartbroken. A news van pulled at the crime scene and Eric Sykes walked towards the crime scene tape. Calleigh sighed and walked towards her.
"What do you want Erica?" She asked.
"A statement from you." Eric said seriously, "The team just solved when of the worst kidnapping cases ever. You have to say something so that all the mothers can get their children back."
"Okay, but don't show the kids on TV." Calleigh said, and Eric nodded.
Eric started talking about what had just happened before she turned to Calleigh.
"Dt. Who does these children belong to?" Erica asked.
"At the moment we don't know. What we do know is that there are over 20 children, and we are only able to identify them by their first names. We want the mothers who wrote to us about their missing children to come forth and tell us about all that has happened. Thank you." Calleigh said and then left.
On the road behind Sykes, a car had stopped. The driver slowly back away. His trip to Europe would come a lot faster then he had expected.
TBC…
AN: Please review!