Speed stubbed out his third cigarette of the day against the wall before flicking it into the bin. He considered dryly that he was starting to become a chain smoker, every time someone came to relieve him of guard duty with Ridley he couldn't resist hastening off to smoke. He supposed it was simply the stress, every time her heart beeped quicker than normal or her breathing seemed laboured or a doctor came in with a frown Speed filled with worry.

It had been almost two weeks now since Ridley's awful ordeal and they were none the wiser about their killer or his location. There had been more than few oddities about his apartment, stale bagel crumbs and the remnants of an uncommon cream cheese had led them to the only store nearby that stocked the cheese where security footage had awarded them with scenes of the killer from a week ago. It was enough to get an accurate image of the man, which was now circling about the police force of Miami, Calleigh had suggested going public with it but Horatio had had a different idea.

For the past week now the four of them- Speed, Horatio, Calleigh and Eric- had become bait. Horatio was convinced that if the killer felt he could have an opportunity he would strike at one of them. So they made a pretence of being alone more often than not, hoping that the hidden cameras and speakers in their home linking up to cops hidden in vans nearby, would go unnoticed. Speed hated having to go home to be alone but had consented that it was possibly their best option. The worst bit was having to lie to Ridley about the entire thing; none of them was willing to admit to their risky plan for fear of the guilt it would cause the young woman.

Ridley had yet to be left alone and until their killer was caught they had agreed it would remain that way, even if leaving her alone might create a better lure none of them was willing to run the risk. Two cops were at her door at all times and one CSI was in within her as often as possible, it seemed like plenty and yet Speed still wasn't convinced that it was enough.

The dark haired man turned back to the glass door he had escaped through and abandoned the grim, square, smoking area to slip back into the ever busy hospital and make his way upstairs.

He avoided visitors, nurses and doctors alike as he made the now all too familiar journey up to where Ridley dwelled with Calleigh for company. He paused to give way to a slim, brunette, ignoring the lingering glance she gave him before he continued on his way. It was strange but despite a couple of nurses giving obvious hints and a few visiting women even just outright making suggestions, Speed hadn't felt compelled to hook up with or chase after any of them. It wasn't the effort involved, because that was an all time low, but he simply didn't see himself as wanting to be available anymore. He wasn't even really sure why, he had no girlfriend, and it had been a while since he had last had any action and yet he had no desire for any of it. All the trace expert could think about was taking Ridley to the Kali Bay restaurant for a meal as they offered up an interesting variation of their dishes coming up to Christmas including her ever favourite noodles and also served what they called Big Apples Bites, generous chunks of apple pie with ice-cream and toffee sauce, sickening and nothing to do with New York really but he thought she might appreciate the tongue in cheek name anyway.

He was frustrated as he flashed his badge and ID at the cops at the door and headed in but that was nothing new. When he was at the hospital he felt he was wasting time that could be spent chasing their killer but when he was at the lab going over the evidence he worried about Ridley, he just couldn't win. They had gotten all they could out of Will Maguire who was suddenly very helpful upon realising he might be facing death row and yet Speed still thought there was more they could get out of him but of course Horatio was not going to let him do any interrogating. Will had confessed to selecting Amelia Greene to die, stealing the clown statue, luring the slasher smile victims to the warehouse where they had died and buying some of the more exotic weapons used to kill some of the victims, and the scythe prop at the Silver wedding. He had claimed to get the requests via text message; always from a blocked number and that he had been ordered to drop the weapons at numerous sites and later received payment for them at dead drops. Naturally Will had deleted all the messages off his phone and the few drop sites he recalled hadn't turned up much having become too contaminated.

He nodded calmly to Calleigh who stood up wearily, pausing to lift her denim jacket. She stepped up to Speed with a small, tired smile and said, "are you sure you don't want a longer break? You look exhausted."

"I'm fine," he murmured. He was in need of a shave, his hair was border lining on greasy, his eyes were bloodshot and his clothes were wrinkled and been worn for three days straight but he neither noticed nor cared.

The blonde knew better than to point out the obvious, she'd already had this argument with Speed several times now. Instead she just nodded and retorted quietly, "okay but if you feel like a longer break let me know. You need to go home and sleep; you're no good to Ridley if you're exhausted."

He frowned at her and she knew she had hit a nerve. "I'll be fine," he practically growled out the words.

"Alright," Calleigh gave in with a disapproving shake of her head, "but give Eric or me a call Speed."

"Sure, thanks Calleigh."

She nodded, cast a final look of pity at Ridley and then slipped out the door.

Speed was quick to occupy the seat beside the young woman; it had mercifully been changed from a hard, plastic torture device to a soft cushioned chair with a pillow Calleigh had brought from home. Speed looked at the table beside the chair and thought dryly how it was becoming telling who had occupied this chair- gun magazines advertised Calleigh's idea of light reading, the empty soda cans and crumpled doughnut bags showed the times Eric had dropped by, usually with a gift of food for Calleigh, the Sleepy Hollow book had to be Horatio's idea of ironic reading and everything else was Speed's. He noted that Calleigh had evidently cleaned up most of his abandoned food wrappers and coffee cups.

"Is it late?"

He turned at the quiet voice and shook his head before glancing at his watch. "Six-fifteen," he informed her as he sagged in the seat in an attempt to get comfortable.

"It's hard to tell," she murmured as she glanced towards the window, which had its white blinds drawn as what sunlight came through it stung her swollen eyes.

"Are you hungry?" speed quipped hopefully.

As expected she shook her head though the gesture cost her as it sent a pang of pain through her neck.

"Sure?" The woman barely ate and when she did it was usually in liquid form and something the doctor had advised, even Speed's offer of noodles and Eric's suggestion of doughnuts had been rejected. "I can get you whatever you like."

"I feel dizzy today," she retorted softly.

He leaned towards her slightly, reaching out a hand to touch her brow, as expected she had a mild temperature. "Water?" he suggested calmly.

"I'd like tea," she confessed weakly.

He gave a small grin at that, it was the first interest she had bothered to show in food or liquids. "Tea it is then," he answered with some satisfaction. "How do you take tea anyway?"

"Rarely with milk and honey," she answered faintly, "sugar's fine too."

"Right, I'll be back in a minute then." He stood up and hurried from the room, heading to the stairs and descending down to where the cafe was. It was as he neared the cafe that his phone started ringing. He tugged it out, saw Horatio's name flash up and answered, "what's up H?"

"Speed he took the bait, Eric was sent on a goose chase by a bunch of teenagers who saw him on duty, they claimed a woman was in trouble in a secluded part of the marshes. He sensed trouble, let us know and then followed the trap. He's gone dark, he's probably unconscious but his tracker is working."

"Delko?" Speed retorted, dumbfounded.

"I know, he's the least close with Ridley so our killer probably thought we wouldn't be watching him as closely. Anyway, Calleigh is on her way back to the hospital, I told her we had a breakthrough I needed you to check out."

"Right," Speed murmured dryly as he turned from the cafe and started hastening towards the exit. He supposed it was better Calleigh not worrying about Eric, especially given their developing relationship, but at the same time he loathed the deceit. "Where do you want me?"

"Twenty-fifth Avenue, by Holly Park Road, you're looking for an old shoe factory and Speed..."

"Yes?"

"Your gun better be clean." With those firm words Horatio hung up the phone.

Once he was securely in his car a brief surge of guilt fluttered through Speed but it wasn't enough to combat the adrenaline surging through him, this was it, their big break at last. It was a pity it had to be Eric and entirely unexpected, which was obviously what their killer was going for. Speed hated that he had now left Ridley without a word, probably growing more anxious by the minute, and that he had avoided the truth with Calleigh but he didn't want either of them in a panicked state and he knew, as Horatio had, that if Calleigh knew Eric was potentially in trouble she would've dropped everything to rush to him, which would leave Ridley vulnerable. Speed knew he could have offered to stay with Ridley and let Calleigh go but he was determined to see this business concluded in person. He wanted to look at the eyes of Ridley's tormentor and make him suffer.

It was twenty to seven by the time Speed made it to his destination; he abandoned his car on an unlit side street, got out and hastened up the street searching for an abandoned shoe factory. It was getting darker, with autumn here the sun set quickly and there was a faint chill to the air, normally not unpleasant but this evening it set an ominous mood.

The neighbourhood was a bleak one, a sign of the market crash as there were numerous abandoned buildings and closely built homes of formerly white, now grey, some with cracked windows and more than a few with questionable groups of people outside. The palm trees and long, rough grass seemed a cliché, the photographic image of Miami trying to cover the dark truth that even in this active city for the wealthy there were large pockets of poverty and depression.

Speed contemplated ringing Horatio until he spotted him lingering under the shade of a cluster of dying trees. He hurried over to him and quipped quietly, "where's everyone else?"

"There is no one else," Horatio confessed calmly, "I have units waiting fifteen minutes away, any closer and our killer would know something was up. He's smart Speed, either we're lucky and he has no idea we've a tracking device on Eric or this is all part of his elaborate plan, either way we need to be extremely careful." He gave his companion a dark look and queried seriously, "are you ready to do this?"

Speed nodded confidently and answered, "let's get this asshole already."

Horatio led the way on, down the street, across the road and up a narrow alleyway to the back of a tall, forgotten, brown bricked building with faded mint green paint on it reading 'BESSIM'S SHOE FACTORY'. Horatio surveyed their surroundings briskly before tugging out his gun and hurrying up to the back door, the padlock on it was rusty and he tugged it off with little bother before tugging down the handle. The door was stiff and awkward to open but it was no surprise that it did open, undoubtedly squatters, drug users and daredevil teens had broken the padlock and locks a long time ago and simply left the padlock on for show.

They found the ground floor to be a large, dusty, cobwebbed room littered with empty bottles, stubbed out cigarettes and joints, abandoned half-made shoes, rotting cardboard boxes and graffiti marred walls. They both surveyed the area quickly and carefully, hesitating when they heard a low moan echoing down from upstairs. Horatio nodded at Speed before leading the way on towards the rusting, metal staircase.

Speed looked at the staircase in annoyance, it was going to be impossible to climb up it stealthily but Horatio made an attempt anyway. Up to the dark unknown, passing a window so thickly smeared with dirt and grime it may as well have not been there at all. Speed spied the wire glinting at the edge of the staircase first, Horatio should have expected it but when they heard a cry of pain, the redhead seemed to miss the obvious in his worry. The dark haired man moved swiftly without thinking.

The wire snapped as Horatio's black, leather shoe brushed against it just as Speed shoved him hard, sending him down and into the wall with a grunt of pain. BANG!

The noise sent a ringing through Horatio's ears as the unmistakable odour of gunpowder attacked his nostrils. He turned in surprise, gun up and ready as he tried to take in the scene. Speed was down to the right, doubled over and gasping in pain. Eric...there he was in a filthy tin bath of ice of all things, blood and sweat soaking his face as he tried to react to the gunfire and failed. Drugs, blood loss, Horatio had no time to determine what Eric was suffering from, maybe it was both, he had no time to take it in. There was a gun pointing his way. Click, the sound of a trigger, he had to move.

BANG!

"Fuck!"

The gun clattered to the floor harmlessly as the almost mythical man they had been searching for clutched at his now bloody right hand and glowered at Speed hatefully. Speed glared at him, continuing to hold his gun up despite the sweat lashing down him and the tremble beginning in his hand.

Horatio spied the assortment of tools glinting on a metal table and took in the sickle in their culprit's left hand and the dagger discarded on the edge of the table. Horatio realised the only thing that had saved them was the fact that the killer had had to drop the dagger to lift his gun, a few seconds of delay that had given Speed a chance to successfully fire his own gun. The redhead stood up, looking to the loaded shotgun that was linked up to the wire he had triggered. He raised his Beretta Cougar and took a step towards their assailant.

He was tall, over six feet, a disturbingly handsome man somewhere in his early thirties with dyed dark brown hair that was ill-suited to his fair complexion, bushy blonde eyebrows, a smile almost too wide for his face that seemed mad rather than amused and those unnerving, unnatural violet-blue eyes that were filled with an insane evil. In his youth Horatio had never believed someone could actually hold madness in their eyes, he had scorned the idea of eyes being the window to the soul believing that people could lie as well with their gazes as they could with their mouths but over time he had learned that he was wrong, that some people couldn't contain the darkness of their souls from their eyes. As he studied the man he realised that he looked familiar, something Ridley had babbled about, he took in the slight dent at his chin, the small curve at the bottom of his nose and the finely shaped cheekbones, it was a face, he realised, that he had been staring at a lot recently.

"Lieutenant Caine," the man greeted calmly as his gaze flickered to Eric briefly and he held his bloodstained sickle out warningly towards the moaning half-Cuban. "You were watching more closely than I realised," he admitted.

"It had to end at some point," Horatio answered coolly.

The man's smile widened, stretching out across his entire face and making him ghoulish in appearance. "It's a pity it couldn't end for Detective Moon, you failed her twice, how does that feel? Of course she failed so many people so many times; it's only apt that someone failed her." His gaze flickered over to the still heavily panting Speed whose gun hand was shaking now. "Or several people failed her rather; you failed her too Detective Speedle. A cop whose home lacked any kind of security and a gun that couldn't even shoot, your laziness annoyed me, as pleased as I was to have her make the decision to sacrifice herself for you I was a little upset, you deserve to suffer." He shook his head scornfully as his stare turned back to Horatio. "So many stupid cops, this country deserves better."

"My gun shot you fine this time asshole," Speed snarled back.

"We've got you now," Horatio said confidently, "you left Detective Moon alive, and thanks to her description of you we knew who we were looking for."

The man's expression curdled in displeasure. "The bitch couldn't even die right," he grumbled. "No matter, she'll still suffer in the end. In fact, you will wish she had died. You see when people learn just how responsible she is for all of this; it will be her they turn on not me."

"You're delusional," Speed spat at him hatefully.

"Not so Detective Speedle, she and Justin started this mess and the world is going to know it. When you bring me in Lieutenant Caine all anyone will want to know is why and I will tell them, everyone will know that Detective Silver and Detective Moon are the reason why all this carnage had to happen."

"Hawkes," Horatio breathed out the name in calm disgust.

The man's violet-blue eyes flared in anger and he shook his sickle down several times in anger, almost slicing Eric's ear with it. "Don't speak his name like it's nothing!" he screeched.

"His name and yours," Horatio realised.

"They shot him down in cold blood, no reason; they hunted him," he snarled, "and gunned him down from behind, an innocent man!"

"He was hardly innocent," Speed sneered.

"Shut up!" the man snarled before pointing at Horatio with his bloody hand. "You were there, you couldn't convict him, you couldn't even get a warrant! You let him go but thirteen years later two cops who should be upholding the law think they have a right to be vigilantes! Murderers! And they got away with it because the law is so lazy and corrupt! Well if you cops couldn't bring your own to justice I had to make sure they still suffered."

"The law failed Detective Moon not you," Horatio informed him frostily, "your father was guilty of many things."

"YOU COULDN'T PROVE IT! YOU WERE THE COP ON DUTY AND YOU COULDN'T PROVE IT! And neither could she when she got her badge! She had all the powers of the law at her disposal but she didn't arrest him! No, she and partner gunned him down like he was nothing! I never found out who pulled the trigger," he confessed, "that's why they both had to suffer."

"All this for revenge?" Horatio queried in disbelief with a slight shake of his head.

"All this so the country would see how incompetent that pair were, there should have been an investigation!" he snapped hatefully. "Someone should have looked into their professionalism, questioned their past cases but oh no, cops always stick with their own!" He smiled wickedly once more. "I confess I grew to like it too, everyone dies different you know, someone still hope they'll live even as their last breath escapes them, some embrace it and some fight until the end, Justin fought until the end." He leered at Speed once more whose arm had finally dropped slightly. "Ridley was a fighter, I enjoyed hurting her, I enjoyed fucking her too, did you? Justin did, he told me."

Speed struggled to lift his gun, it felt like it weighed four times more than it did and was causing a terrible stinging pain to race up his limb and join the burning humming through his leg. "You fucking freak," he growled out hatefully.

"This isn't the end," the killer taunted Horatio, "it's only the beginning. You've all closed ranks about her but once the press comes to me everyone will know that all those deaths are on her head and they will know that she and Justin killed a man in cold blood, an unarmed, innocent man! I will tell the world that he was my father and that if they hadn't done that no one would have to die, that if they had only investigated her and Justin after failing to stop me so many times it all could have ended sooner.

That she is a delusional nutcase who should have never been allowed a badge, a traumatised young woman who made up an idea that my poor father was a man who attacked her, all lies brought about because of your inability to find the real culprit Lieutenant Caine! You failed her so she concocted a story about my father being her monster, a story she couldn't get out of her head until she sought her misplaced revenge! She and Justin didn't get to know the truth, who I am and why I have done this but now everyone will know!"

"Your father was a monster," Horatio retorted icily.

Speed finally raised his gun though he struggled to take aim.

BANG!

The man's eyes went wide in shock and attempted and failed to roll down to the bloodstain widening on his chest as he staggered back. "Cops shouldn't shoot first," he gasped out before he fell back to the floor loudly.

"I was just bringing you to justice," Horatio murmured sardonically as he lowered his smoking gun.

It was close to dawn when Calleigh escaped Ridley's room for a toilet break. Her blue eyes went wide when she saw Horatio, Eric and Speed coming up the hall. Speed was noticeably limping and his jeans' right leg was stained crimson. He was smeared in dirt and in one hand was inexplicably clutching an expensive looking brand of sealed polyester and cardboard cup of tea. Eric was covered in cuts, his right arm was in a sling and unseen were several bandages about his torso. He was coated in a thin sheen of sweat and his eyes were bloodshot. Horatio only looked slightly unruffled, his golden auburn hair was a little out of place, his grey shirt was wrinkled and there were grey dirt marks on his coal black blazer.

"Were the Hell have you all been?" Calleigh snapped loudly as she charged towards them, giving Eric a look of horrified worry and Speed an angry glower. "Eric what happened to you? And you!" She turned her look of fury upon Speed and shoved him in the chest hard with both hands. "Do you have any idea what you have put Ridley through? How could you just take off without a word to her? I thought you were past that!"

"Calleigh-" Speed began a protest.

"Don't!" she snapped. "She had a panic attack, her heart gave out again and they had her in surgery for four hours!"

"Shit," Speed cursed.

"Calleigh," Horatio tried to calm the woman, "we got him."

Calleigh turned her furious blue gaze on him as it filled with shock. "What?" she rasped out.

"He came for me," Eric confessed, his voice hoarse from bruising about his neck, "and Horatio and Speed tracked me down." He gave them a look of gratitude. "Right on time in fact," he said gratefully.

"Oh my God," Calleigh exclaimed as tears filled her eyes, "you guys are so stupid and reckless! Why did no one tell me what was going on?"

"Because you would have worried or tried to take off with us leaving Ridley alone," Speed grumbled. He let out a cry of surprise and anger when the blonde dealt him a stinging slap.

"That wasn't your choice to make!" she snapped angrily. "And you should've stayed with Ridley, do you think it's better you went after him on some personal revenge mission for her and left her terrified that something had happened to you?! She thought he had gotten you Speed! I tried to ring you to assure her but then you wouldn't answer and hours went by without one word! She completely freaked out!"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled as he rubbed at his left cheek with a frown, "but I had to, he hurt her badly and she was terrified with him still out there."

The blonde shook her head wearily. "Oh God guys, I don't know...I'm glad you got him, so glad but shit, look at you all! What happened anyway? Is he in jail? Who was he?"

"He's dead," Horatio answered calmly.

"What?!"

"He attacked and I had to shoot him," he lied calmly, with his mouth and his eyes, an art he was so well practised in even his second-in-command fell for it.

"It's true," Speed backed up his story.

"It's done now," Eric said in relief.

"No it's not," the blonde snapped, "not for Ridley. It's only beginning now, imagine the investigation and all the questions, and how can we prove anything with him dead? Did you get a taped confession? Everyone will want to know why he did it. It can't just be over."

"He did it because he was a madman and we have all the evidence we need," Horatio replied, "his DNA will match to the DNA at our cases, and we have numerous witnesses proving he was in the house where we found all our missing photographs and his DNA will be all over that too. We got the right man Calleigh and it will be easy to prove."

"Still, there's always going to be doubt and questions, Ridley's going to be plagued with this for a long time, we all will but her most of all and she didn't even get him."

"Yes she did," Horatio said firmly, "we would have never identified him if not for Ridley and the world will know that."

"Horatio it's not like you to just shoot someone dead," Calleigh accused, "he should have lived to suffer in jail, people are going to be angry about this." She studied him hard, searching for an explanation or a hint of a lie. "All those families you've denied their closure, they would have wanted to see him properly condemned and locked up. I don't understand, couldn't you have just wounded him? Ridley too, she deserved to see him punished and locked away."

"Ridley's safer with him dead," the redhead answered sternly.

Calleigh folded her arms and demanded, "what aren't you telling me?"

"That Ridley would have been worse off if he had lived," the redhead retorted smoothly. "That's enough for now, I promise I'll explain later but now I would like to see Ridley."

The blonde's frown deepened. "She's not great Horatio," she murmured, "please be careful how you tell her. It's great news that he's finally gone, it really is but there's going to be an aftermath and she really can't handle any more stress." She looked pointedly at Speed as she said this.

"I won't leave her again without telling her Calleigh, I swear," Speed vowed.

"I really don't think you deserve the chance to prove that," she grumbled at him, "she doesn't need your complications Speedle. She needs rest and a lot of therapy."

"Let me talk to her Calleigh, please, let me apologise," Speed said.

"Well I can't really stop either of you," the blonde retorted angrily. She stepped to the side at last and her stern gaze fell on Eric. "Look at you Eric," she said as the tears finally trickled down her cheeks.

"Yes look at me," Eric said with a small smile, "I need a rest, so why don't we get some coffee and I can finally sit?"

Calleigh smiled despite herself and rubbed at her eyes furiously as the tears fell harder. "Alright," she murmured allowing Eric to take her hand and lead her towards the lift.

Horatio entered the room first, holding the door open to allow Speed to limp in behind him. The young man's troubled expression only deepened when he saw Ridley, small and grey with a ventilation mask over her face, and several new tubes linked up to her. He noted with a pang of annoyance that his red shirt and the giraffe teddy had been clumsily discarded to the table, undoubtedly removed when Ridley had to be moved for surgery. He hung back wondering if it was as Calleigh had said, that this latest development was his fault because he had ran off without warning or explanation causing her to fill with fear and anxiety, prompting another breakdown. He knew it had to be true, he had known when he had raced from the hospital to find her attacker that she would worry and fear, of course she would but he had ran the risk anyway assuming Calleigh would calm her and the payoff would be worth it. Now he wasn't so sure, contemplating that Horatio had been the one to shoot, and that maybe it would have been better with Calleigh in his place.

"Calleigh would have panicked at the sight of Eric," Horatio said calmly as he looked back at Speed, seeming to guess at his thoughts, "and could have cost us everything in her worry. More importantly, she might not have noticed the trap, you did."

Speed nodded slowly, unsure if he agreed or not.

Horatio took a seat beside the woman and reached out a hand to stroke her limp hair tenderly. "It's over now sweetheart," he told her gently as he leaned towards her. "You led us to him and he's dead now."

She stirred slightly at his voice and her eyes fluttered open, locking with his soothing stare.

"You're safe," he assured, "the nightmare's over. So now all that's left for you to do is rest and get better."

She gave him a very weak, faint smile and her hand rose shakily up to the mask but she struggled to reach it and was unable to suppress her trembles enough to grasp at it. Horatio helped, moving forward to tug it off.

"Where's Tim?" she croaked.

Horatio smiled as he leaned back and looked Speed's way. "He's right here," he said calmly.

Speed limped forward, the shotgun had packed quite a punch and his right leg had taken half the impact from it. Getting the pellets out had been tedious and of course the doctor had insisted he didn't put pressure on it, tried to get him to take crutches and scorned him for leaving so soon after his minor operation but he hadn't cared, seeing Ridley was more important. "I brought your tea, with honey like you wanted," he said lamely as he showed her the cup.

Her smile widened at that. "Took you long enough," she whispered.

"Well I couldn't get you any old tea," he teased as he sat it down on the table.

"Is everyone okay?" she croaked.

Speed and Horatio both nodded. "Everyone's fine," Horatio reassured.

"Good." She closed her eyes, seemingly satisfied with that. "Thank you," she murmured quietly.

Wow almost there guys, can't believe it! Well I hope the payoff was worth the wait, apologies if it wasn't! I really did think about killing Ridley off, felt it would poignant or ironic but she seems to have some fans, which I'm delighted about, so she got to live! Got to be honest the next chapter will be the last and hopefully wrap the fic up! I'm toying with the idea of a sequel and/or prequel so please let me know if that would interest anyone!

As always many thanks for the reviews and favs and do keep them coming!