A print on Aphis, a gun connected to a previous murder and finally, tiny grains of sand and seeds left at the scene, trekked in on someone's black boots, prints that hadn't matched any of the staff or victims. Eric felt they were finally getting somewhere but Calleigh didn't think they were getting there fast enough. They already knew what some of the cartel members looked like thanks to footage of Ridley's tangle with them in the mall, the security footage from the cafe was an added bonus but it didn't amount to much, nor did the owner of the print- one Carlos Banderas, a known cartel member wanted over drug offences, having a name just wasn't enough. Every cop in the city was already looking for their faces, and of course they had spread the name Carlos Banderas about but no one was expecting it to be that easy. The sand and the seeds though, that was showing some better success.
"I've got something," Eric announced to Calleigh with a small smile as he entered the lab where she was studying the bullets left at the scene for the umpteenth time.
"What is it?" the blonde queried as she turned to him with a hopeful look. The trail was starting to grow cold, it had been over twenty-four hours and no one was expecting to find Emily Jenkins alive. Still, they had to hope; the cops at least talked about forty-eight hours, but if they were going to let her live that long it certainly wouldn't be painlessly. Her friend and fellow drug thief had not died quickly.
Eric held up a sheet indicating his results from tests on the sand and seeds. "Red gem and angel's trumpet, not your average flowers, and the sand, it's got an unexpected content of oil."
"Meaning?" Calleigh pressed as she dared to let her hope grow.
"Well I looked into it, I mean Speedle does better with trace than me but I got something, there's only one beach in Miami that could match up to this, a minor, private cove beside White Ellison estate, it has a couple of caves that used to be popular with smugglers and pirates. Anyway, there was a minor oil spill there a couple of months ago, remember that case where that idiot hippie was trying to sabotage an oil company? He tried to steal one of their tankards and beached it on the rocks; luckily it wasn't yet full when he took it so the beach only suffered minimal damage. Of course the environment still took a beating and the beach has been closed ever since."
"And the plants?"
"It took a while but there are a few garden homes that sell their seeds, one near White Ellison estate, which, according to their accounts, has regularly sold a few to one house on the street, Mrs. Hayden's to be precise."
"Great, so could they be hiding out in those caves then?" Calleigh queried sharply.
Eric shrugged. "I don't know, the evidence suggests they started there at one point anyway, only one way to find out."
"Well I'll ring Frank," Calleigh said as she immediately grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
"He won't let us go," Eric informed her as he followed her out, "not after what happened."
"He won't have a choice," the blonde said firmly, "this is our case, and our evidence, and we have a right to follow it up. It is our job to chase up evidence last I checked."
"I know but..." Eric trailed off at the fierce look he got in retaliation. "Yelina's still in the hospital," he said softly with a worried look, "that shot was shallow but it's turning infected, I mean, we don't need something worse happening."
"We need to fix the damage," Calleigh said firmly, "and we need to get Emily back alive if we can. The law put her in this position, testify or be abandoned; she was given no choice but to put herself in danger to save herself."
"Now Calleigh, she made that choice before all this with her friend when they chose to steal drugs off someone."
"I know," the blonde murmured, "and it was foolish but you saw her and her friend, they're just stupid kids Eric, that poor girl didn't deserve torture and death for it and neither does Emily."
"Okay," Eric gave in, "but when we wrap this up and we will, we're going for that drink."
Calleigh turned back to give Eric a small smile. "Of course."
It took a precious thirty minutes to reach Frank and persuade him and his less than impressed superiors of their theory based on the evidence and to let them accompany them to the scene. Finally, after another forty minutes of arguing, Calleigh cursed them out for wasting time and she and Eric agreed to not enter any caves until they had been thoroughly searched by the cops.
It was just past half-two when the SWAT team were finally on the private Coconut Grove Beach preparing to raid the three small known caves of the area. Eric and Calleigh hung back with Frank on the edge of the beach exchanging several looks of frustration as they waited for the drama to play out. It seemed quiet, too quiet but Eric theorised that was because of the oil damage driving the native animals and locals off the peaceful sandy shores. The tide was out and its low ebbing was barely audible.
Then came the hail of gunfire.
"Get down!" Frank shouted as he drew his gun.
Calleigh and Eric both drew their weapons as they watched the sand flurry up into the air as bullets embedded into it. There was shouting all around, radios going off, numerous people crying out orders and then it came. The cartel hadn't just been trading in guns and drugs but explosives too.
The sky turned orange, a bright, hot shade that Calleigh didn't think she had ever seen before and it was coming fast, streaking up the sand mercilessly, so hot the air burned through the blonde's lungs. Eric didn't think, he just moved, grabbing Calleigh by one hand and throwing her hard into an alcove amongst some rocks on the beach, a last, tiny resort.
Her blue eyes locked with his brown gaze and held it hard. It felt like an eternity, and that warm, brown, serious, caring gaze was all Calleigh was aware of. The pounding in her chest didn't matter, the ringing in her ears didn't matter or the sweat lashing down her and the tremble in her fingers as chaos tore up their surroundings. All that mattered was Eric, Eric who in seconds could be blown away from her, Eric who was pressing her down, keeping her safe from the roaring flames, and the suffocating black smoke, and the gunfire, and the screams.
She saw him wince and she screamed then and tried to reach up to him and out to him. Her hand caught his cheek as he actually smiled and tears soaked down her own pallid, scared face. "Don't," she choked out.
Moments later he finally slumped to his knees and his smile faded a little. "Are you okay?" he queried hoarsely.
"Yes," Calleigh retorted as she swallowed down a sob and her lip trembled.
"Good, well it's over," he murmured, "so we can get that drink."
"Right." She nodded frantically, too shocked to smile.
He smiled then before his eyes flickered shut and he slumped onto her. Calleigh's hands wrapped about his back and immediately became sticky with blood. The blonde started to shriek until her throat burned and her lungs ached but it was impossible to hear her over all the other commotion. Sirens were screaming up all the roads, residents were yelling, people were screaming, moaning and cursing; helicopters were roaring from above and house alarms were chiming in tune with the police and ambulance sirens.
It was Frank who found Eric and Calleigh, spying them through his one working eye. He barked an order to the medics to go them first despite the shrapnel in his left eye and the bullet in his right arm. He could see the state of Eric and it wasn't good, Frank had had better luck, somehow the inferno had bypassed him.
It would be hours before anyone could piece together what had happened. The cartel members had indeed been in the caves, it was where they had stashed their drugs, weapons and explosives, loading them onto boats to take in and out of Cuba at night. No one was policing this particular beach after all; it had been abandoned to the oil spill, giving them an easy opening into Florida. They had been intending to move after getting Emily but they hadn't been expecting the SWAT team to arrive on their doorstep when they had. One cave had been rigged, ready for any would be police but the other two hadn't. Over twenty-five million dollars worth of drugs was retrieved after the carnage had been cleared, ten cartel members were dead and three lifted for questioning and Emily, against all the odds, had been retrieved alive though given her state some thought maybe it would have been better for her to have died.
Calleigh didn't leave the hospital Eric was taken too, even when she was released with just a few scrapes she stayed, even when they wouldn't let her in with him she stayed. She remained right outside the operating ward, still half in shock as she waited and wondered and worried. That look in his eyes, God it had been so raw, so open and vulnerable, it had been love. She felt tears trickle down her face at that thought and wondered if he had seen the same in her own gaze, God she hoped so because she had felt it, in that one moment all the confusion had faded away and she had finally known with complete certainty that she loved him.
She stayed standing in the corridor for hours, even when her knees began to tremble from the strain and her entire body turned numb she remained. A nurse tried to urge her to the waiting room, another to a seat in a different area but Calleigh wouldn't go. The blonde stayed vehemently outside the operating room determined to remain for all the hours it took.
It was just after eleven in the morning when Ridley raced up the corridor to her friend, eyes wide and burning with worry. She didn't ask or say anything, she didn't have to, the worry and uncertainty in Calleigh's bloodshot, watery, clear blue eyes was enough. Ridley just wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her close. "God Calleigh I'm sorry," she murmured.
Horatio and Tim bypassed their friend to the doctor as the blonde tensed against Ridley. "There was...you've missed so much..." Calleigh babbled to explain.
"I know," Ridley retorted, "the others have been trying to catch us up, don't worry about that. I'm here now Calleigh, we're all here so just share the burden now, okay."
The blonde shuddered as she shook her head, determined not to unleash the fears and grief she had been trying so damn hard to keep contained but her legs started knocking together, threatening to give way again and the sobs finally slipped through. She felt anger along with her worry, anger for the cartel, anger for herself, anger for Eric being so dumb and noble and anger at Ridley, Tim and Horatio for not being here. Finding the anger easier to focus on and a way to control her tears, the blonde gave into it.
"Yes it's good you're here now when it's all over," Calleigh snarled angrily. "Nice to skip town while the cartel danger is still hot and come back when it's taken care of."
Ridley wasn't surprised at the anger from the blonde, she knew where it came from, she'd felt it herself enough times, when you lost control, when you felt helpless and guilty and yet it was too hard to blame yourself and so, to survive, you blamed someone else.
"You're right," Ridley said softly, "I knew the cartel were a problem and I still went to Vegas and left you and Eric to take care of things, which you both did. Even when I knew about it I didn't come back, I could hear the worry in your voice you know, on the phone, I knew there was still a problem when you said there wasn't," Ridley confessed, "but I knew you'd want us to keep going too. I knew you wouldn't want us throwing away the time we did spend in Vegas because the serial killer is still out there and he doesn't give a shit about the cartel or drugs or any other crime going on in this city.
I let you down as a friend and that's unforgiveable, it is, because I was trying to be a cop first and go with the attitude that crime's still happening no matter what, that the world doesn't stop for us and if the crime keeps happening the cops have to keep working, it was a poor choice. I'm here now though as your friend Calleigh. So get mad, scream at me, hit me, and yell at me until you can't anymore because that's what I'm here for."
Ridley leaned back slightly and met Calleigh's furious gaze.
"I hate you!" the blonde snapped. "I hate you all for leaving, but God I would have hated it more if you had stayed, if they had gotten you! Shit, they got us in the cafe, they shot Yelina and I was so mad at everyone, I was mad because I was too slow in that cafe, because the cops involved still gave the cartel a chance to slip in there and kill innocent people, I hate the captain for allowing such a reckless plan to go ahead, a plan that involved civilians! I hated you for being in Vegas in a nice hotel safe from it all and I hate myself for thinking so negatively about you guys like that because you had to be there because you wouldn't have been safe here!"
The blonde rubbed at her eyes furiously with one hand and shook her head as she looked past Ridley to Tim and Horatio who were standing awkwardly together, almost facing each other as they tried to pretend they weren't listening to Calleigh's outburst.
"You're too selfless Calleigh," Ridley commented gently, "you always worry about all of us and never yourself and when we try to look out for you, you get mad. The danger is part of our job, all our jobs, and unfortunately that's the risk we take every day and Eric knew that as well as we do. Be mad at me but not him and not yourself, I've seen the way he looks at you and I promise there is no way you could have stopped him trying to protect you."
At that remark Calleigh finally did let the sobs win out. "It should work both ways," she choked out, "I should have protected him too. It was awful, the whole sky just filled with fire and I was frozen, I've...I've never been frozen like that but Eric knew to move, he ran and he pulled me with him and he found a spot." She raised both hands to her mouth and sobbed into them.
Ridley embraced her friend once more and met with no resistance this time. "He'll be okay," she said gently, "it will take time but we will get him there."
"How can you know that?" Calleigh queried in despair. "You haven't seen him, God so many burns..."
"I know because you guys got me there," Ridley said confidently.
When Eric finally awoke there was only one thing on his mind and it was first thing he said. "Calleigh."
The blonde, who had been half-asleep, was immediately alert at the hoarse voice. She sat upright and leaned forward, putting herself in his vision as she looked down at him. "Hey there," she greeted warmly.
"You're safe, good," he said with a faint smile.
"Of course I am because of your stupid heroics," she scorned him with an anxious laugh. "Thank you and never do it again!"
Eric winced as he tried to sit up and realised he was too well bandaged for that. His back felt like it was on fire as did the back of his arms and thighs and yet he felt good, perhaps because of the morphine being pumped into him he supposed but he liked to believe it was because of the beautiful, golden haired woman smiling down at him. "It was worth it for this," he said sincerely.
Calleigh looked confused at his remark. "What, getting yourself banged up in a hospital bed?"
He shook his head as he let out a brief, painful laugh. "No, it was worth it to see you safe and smiling."
"Oh Eric." Calleigh felt tears of relief start to trickle down her cheeks and she rubbed at them feebly. "I was so worried about you, I wasn't even sure; I mean there were a couple of moments..." She trailed off, no point in letting him know how long he had been in intensive care for and getting skin grafted. "I...it doesn't matter, what matters is you're finally awake so I can say this, you owe me one hell of a drink!"
Eric laughed again. "Hey I think you owe me the drink," he teased.
Calleigh smiled and said seriously, "I owe you a lot more than that Eric Delko."
"Like what?" he pried.
She leaned down and stunned him with a deep kiss. Eric leaned up to it as he tasted her raspberry lipgloss and breathed in her lavender perfume. When they broke apart Calleigh said softly, "I thought you were going to leave me and it terrified me, don't leave me Eric."
"I won't," he assured, "and once I'm out of here I'll take you for the best dinner ever. How long has it been anyway?"
"A week."
"What?! Seriously?"
"Yeah they had you in a controlled coma for two days you know and ever since you have been in and out of it on drugs, this is the first you've been coherent."
"So what date is it?" he queried dopily.
"November 14th."
"Shit," Eric marvelled, "so everyone's back from Vegas?"
"Yeah, days ago," Calleigh retorted, "and they have all been here." She gestured to the table beside her. "See Speedle's mess, I threw out his coffee cups last time and he went mad, dirty pig likes to drink three days old coffee, and this is Ridley's." She held up a pulp fiction styled detective novel.
"And H?"
Calleigh made a show of hunting about the table to hide her uneasy expression. "You know he hasn't left anything but he has been here," she assured.
"What about Yelina?" Eric pounced on the subject the blonde had been reluctant to discuss.
"Um still in hospital," she admitted.
"What?" Eric looked confused. "But it was just a graze."
"She's got an infection but don't worry, they're treating it with strong antibiotics and she's a fighter like you," Calleigh assured.
Eric frowned. "It has been over a week for her," he murmured.
When the door knocked Calleigh looked relieved as she stood up to answer it. She opened it to a tired looking Tim who was quick to tug off his dark shades and slip them into his shirt's front pocket. "How is he?" he queried softly.
"Ask him yourself," Calleigh suggested cheerfully, "he's awake." She turned back to Eric with a nod before stepping back to let Tim in.
"There he is!" Eric enthused with a smile. "The man who hasn't a clue about women. Please tell me you fixed things while I was unconscious."
Tim gave a small, brief smile at that before nodding sheepishly and rubbing his messy, dark hair with one hand. "Yeah, I did, it involved two carousel rides, with plenty of incriminating pictures, a very, very expensive dinner and, worst of all, a one on one coffee with Ridley's uncle, but I fixed it."
"Uncle?" Calleigh and Eric both quipped in surprise at the same time. They exchanged a smile and Calleigh actually laughed.
The blonde hadn't had much sleep and she had asked almost nothing about Vegas until Eric was in the clear and even then she had only queried about the case briefly. The others hadn't bothered volunteering information; instead Horatio had taken over wrapping up the cartel business whilst Ridley and Tim had returned to the Wonderland murders with their newfound knowledge. That of course was when they weren't at Eric's bedside, making sure Calleigh went home, accompanying Calleigh home on some occasions in Ridley's case, or helping with Yelina's son Raymond Junior. The latter duty had been slightly unexpected but Yelina had pleaded with Horatio to step in as her mother was saddled with him and too old for the boy's wayward ways. Of course Horatio had promised to do all he could but the childless bachelor, who was definitely good with kids wasn't all that great with parenting, prompting the sympathetic Ridley to insist they all helped. Calleigh couldn't actually decide what had been more stressful, worrying over Eric or trying to supervise a rebellious young boy.
"Yeah, Detective Chris Cavaliere, " Tim explained awkwardly before he occupied Calleigh's seat and instinctively reached for the cup of half-drunk coffee he had abandoned there last night. "A cop who's very into the intimidating type of interrogation and is always Detective Cavaliere to me," he added dryly.
Eric laughed at this. "I bet you squirmed," he jested, "and did he know about you and Ridley's fight?"
Tim shrugged as he made a face at the taste of cold coffee before taking another gulp anyway. "He made it somewhat clear that he did yeah," he admitted at last. "Anyway, enough about that, it's boring compared to what you were up to! I leave the city for three days and you get yourself put in hospital, seriously Delko, can't you take care of yourself without me?" he queried teasingly.
Calleigh stood and watched the boys tease each other for a moment and felt a small prickle of joy. For a few days there she had really thought they wouldn't have this anymore, first Tim mucking up his relationship with Ridley, then Eric almost getting killed.
The first night Ridley had persuaded Calleigh to leave the hospital with her the blonde had had a breakdown. She had cried over everything, over Yelina and Eric, then over Tim getting shot and Ridley's past traumas and lamented that they all seemed to be cursed. She had been surprised when Ridley, the one person she was certain would agree with her grim outlook, had actually disagreed with it. Ridley had then told her she had previously thought that but it had been Calleigh's eternal optimism that had made her think maybe it was just life and you had to take the good with the bad and make an effort for the good. Ridley had then hugged her friend close, apologised again for not being there for her, and for her and Tim's drama eclipsing things, and then vowed that they would soon sit and laugh together on a beach again.
The blonde's expression darkened slightly as she wondered if Yelina would ever be joining them again. She couldn't admit it to Eric as she didn't want to stress him but the infection had spread, the doctors were talking about a rare form of blood poisoning and Horatio hadn't left her bedside in three days.
"Go get some rest Calleigh," Tim urged as he looked her way, "I'll look after him, don't worry."
"Hey I'll be fine of my own," Eric protested.
"Nah you won't, you'll be bored stiff without me," Tim retorted humorously.
"Okay," Calleigh gave in, "I'll see you soon." She gave Eric a warm, reassuring smile before slipping out of the room.
"So tell me about Vegas," Eric begged Tim as he looked up at him eagerly, "what about the case? What about the casinos? And what in the hell about you and Ridley? And have you spoken to Alexx yet?"
"Let's see, we got a good lead in the case," Tim retorted proudly, "there was an amusement park in the city, one of the very last places Estella van le Rael visited with some questionable friends. Ridley found a stall there, which belonged to one Wonderful Llorrac, a magician who used to perform in a tent in the park. Llorrac being Carroll backwards, as in Lewis Carroll, complete with the two Rs and Ls, like some private, sick joke as if the rabbit masks at the stall weren't enough of a clue." Tim tensed slightly, after seeing them he had managed to suffer three nightmare fuelled nights in a row and had been very grateful to have Ridley there to wake him up each time and snuggle into him with a reassuring smile before flipping on the television to distract him with some bad cartoons. "Anyway, we chased it up here, turns out the same magician was part of Circo de Ammiratio, a circus visited by, and this will shock you, the Hayir family, they caught the full show, and the twins you identified as Rick and Stanley Tweed, their schoolmates confirmed they visited the circus property one day and caught a magician's act in the tent."
"Wait, then why did no one at the circus know about him when we asked?" Eric demanded angrily.
"Oh this is where it gets really good; he just slipped in one day and started performing, on the property but never in the big ring, everyone just assumed Nina Balksom had okayed it or that someone knew about him. Course the only name he ever gave anyone, including Nina, was Llorrac and she says she never saw him without the mask, which was just a black face mask she says, and of course every other circus performer has skipped town so we can't ask any of them if they did."
"So is it Rothdale?" Eric wondered aloud.
Tim shrugged. "We don't know but we know what we're looking for, he's a performer and that's how he has been picking his victims, from his performance and based on their names. He's psychotic enough to think these poor people are deliberately being sent to him, that he's meant to be doing this- a girl who calls herself Alice, a family called Hayir, twins named Tweed, and a boy named White."
"And what about Mark White?" Eric pondered. "Was he at the circus too?"
"Don't think so, but it was all wrapped up before White died," Tim reminded him, "so we're looking into it, seeing if our friend has done a reappearing act somewhere else in the city."
"So Vegas was worth it then," Eric enthused.
Tim nodded.
"Worth the big fight?" Eric pried. He grinned at Tim's frown. "Sorry but your text message was priceless, it was obvious you were trashed although I did get a bit worried, you and Ridley have been through enough, you have something special going on and it sure as hell isn't worth screwing up over Megan, Speed you didn't love her, it was just an infatuation," he scolded.
"I know," Tim murmured, "believe me, I really fucking know and I won't muck it up again. What about you and Calleigh? You finally realised if you don't properly commit you might never? That it might end up being too late?"
Eric nodded sombrely. "Yeah I just...when that bomb went off all I thought about was keeping her safe, that was it Speed but when I was sheltering her then I thought, shit, what if this is it? All that matters is if she lives but if I die and she doesn't know how I feel and not even that, if I die not knowing how she feels or how it might have turned out... I have to know and as soon as I get out of here I'm going to find out, no more wasting time wondering, she's worth the risk that's for sure."
Tim nodded. "You know I think we should all make a New Year's Resolution to stay the hell out of hospitals," he joked, "and by the way this makes us even, now you're the one out of work."
"Yeah and I'm catching up to you too," Eric complained, "still, there's a chance I'll get out of hospital before you did so then I'll still have worked more hours."
"Well we'll see."
"Hey so on another matter, November 14th..." Eric trailed off as he looked up at Tim seriously.
"Yeah?"
"One year exactly in ten days," Eric murmured sombrely.
Tim frowned and thumbed his nose, a clear sign that he didn't want to discuss this. One year to the day that Ridley had been kidnapped, tortured and buried alive. "I know, it's not a date I'm ever going to forget," he grumbled. "Look we'll deal with it when it comes to it," he murmured, "if that's what you're asking. Don't worry about it, just worry about getting better."
"Yeah I was just thinking, if I'm out of here by then, and I intend to be, maybe you, me, Ridley and Calleigh should have a movie night then."
Tim gave a small smile. "Sure," he agreed.
In a different part of the hospital in a quiet room Horatio sat by Yelina's bedside assuring her that Raymond Junior was doing fine and currently getting picked up from school by Ridley.
"Ridley doesn't strike me as the maternal type," Yelina confessed as she gave a faint smile. Her skin was soaked with a thin sheen of sweat and was an unpleasant shade of grey, given her pallor was normally a warm bronze for her to be so sickly pale made how unwell she was all too obvious. It wasn't something Horatio had been able to downplay to her son despite his best efforts. She was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and drips and the redhead wasn't too sure that it was doing her any good.
"No," he said with a small smile, "but I think it will be good practice for her."
"Oh, her and Speed planning kids already?" Yelina queried mockingly.
"Not planning yet I wouldn't think," Horatio answered as his grin widened. "Calleigh's great with him you know, she'll make a fantastic mother one day."
"Yes," Yelina agreed tiredly, "and you, you will be a good dad Horatio."
"All I need is the right woman," he murmured with a guilty gleam in his dark blue irises. He wore his guilt better than the others but it was heavier than any of theirs, the guilt of being with one woman you might have feelings for whilst another you knew you loved was getting shot and then lying ill in a hospital bed.
"Don't do that," Yelina chided as she raised her hand limply to press a sweaty palm against his cheek. "I know you think if we had met before Ray and I..." Her eyes shone with sorrow at the memories of her late husband. "And maybe Horatio, maybe, I can't know but that's all it is...a question, a maybe, a dream... Ray and I had something real and you can too with someone..."
Horatio pressed his own hand against hers and pressed it close. "Maybe but while I have the option to dream I will."
"I miss him so much and I want to be with him again," she confessed hoarsely, "but I don't want to leave our son. You promise you will always look out for him right?" She pulled her hand back at last and looked up at the redhead seriously.
"You know I will but you're going to be fine," he assured.
"And promise me something else hmm?"
"Yes?"
"You'll give Catherine a call." Yelina gave a faint smile at this.
Horatio actually laughed. "Sure Yelina, I will and you can meet her, she's a strong woman, just like you, you'll like her."
"If you like her I know I will," Yelina assured. "One final thing."
Horatio's gaze hardened at that. "Not final," he chided, "just one more thing for now."
"A kiss because I'm afraid of it staying a question and a maybe," Yelina confessed as she held his gaze with her own serious, bloodshot one. "Let me know for sure Horatio."
He obliged by leaning down and pressing his lips against hers gently. It was something he had wanted to do for months now but not like this, this wasn't right, her lips were too hot, in fact she was radiating heat from all over and almost too weak to respond. He thought there would be a spark but there wasn't, with Catherine there had definitely been something, a rush of electric and heat that had turned into something wild and exciting, a moment of passion that was so entirely unlike him and yet he had loved every moment of it.
Yelina smiled and closed her eyes as he pulled back. "Did you feel it too?" she quipped almost dreamily.
Horatio clutched her limp, right hand in both of his and squeezed tightly. "Yes," he lied, "I felt it too." He tensed when he saw her chest still and heard the monitor die as it signalled out to the hospital staff that her heart had stopped.
So I see this chapter and chapter 19 as two halves of one whole, I know the last chapter was very Tim/Ridley heavy but I wanted to conclude their business and the Vegas business separately so that it didn't overshadow the Eric/Calleigh and cartel arch plus splicing them together would have made for one epically long chapter. So apologies for one chapter being too heavy on Vegas and this too heavy on Miami but that just seemed the best way for me to edit it.
Glad you've all stuck with me so far and I really hope you are still enjoying this fic and the characters and the plot, have to say I think we are finally nearing the conclusion!
And to address the ending of this chapter, huge apology to any Yelina fans and Yelina/Horatio fans, I am one but I feel him and Catherine have a more interesting potential but more importantly it worked out like this- initially it was going to be Tim and when I couldn't do that, then it was going to be Eric or Yelina and honestly I couldn't do that to the EC fans. Why anyone at all? Because they all got lucky in Suburban Legends, well in a manner of speaking, obviously Ruby didn't and Ridley had pretty much everything except death happen, and I can admit now that I actually was going to kill her off at the end but people liked the potential of a sequel and I thought ending it that way would be too grim as even with getting the bad guy Horatio and the others would still feel they had failed. I mean this has had a lot of drama and action and danger so I felt it was only realistic that someone finally got killed. Plus I thought of the idea of Horatio being the guardian of Raymond Junior and I couldn't really let go of that image.
As always, read and review, I really appreciate it!