xXxXx

"So what are we looking for anyway, Rick?"

"From what I've gathered, the killer was definitely in the front seat and not the back like it was originally thought." He and Calleigh both looked at the car's stereo system, it was covered in dust.

"Well, we aren't going to be getting anything from the buttons. It's been too long. Still he might have touched something. Rick, do me a favor."

"What is it that you need?"

"Could you start the vehicle?

"Sure."

Horatio walked over to where Tripp was watching them and he took the keys from a reluctant man before walking back to the van. He reached inside the driver's side door and brought the vehicle to life.

When he did so, the radio was at a normal volume tuned in to an oldies station. "That's odd."

"What's odd?"

"When I talked with the Johnson kid, he said that the radio had been turned up really loud." Horatio thought for a few minutes then he smiled and reached over to push the eject button on the CD player.

Calleigh grinned as she took the CD as she read a name and address out loud. "Well, Rick, what do you think about taking a trip to Fort Lauderdale?"

"If you feel up to driving."

"Good, then you can call ahead and inform Brian Miller that he's about to have a couple of visitors. You coming, Tripp?"

"Yeah. I'll meet the two of you there."

xXxXx

Ryan Wolfe still could not believe what he had witnessed. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, yet when he had opened them, the tape recorder was still on the table proving that he had not imagined it at all.

Wolfe was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice that the door of the trace lab opened as someone let himself inside. Nor did he notice when that person smirked, and purposely threw the folder down so that it made a loud noise causing him to jerk backwards and fall out of the chair in response.

Looking up, Ryan felt the color rushing to his face as he saw the smirking face of Eric Delko. "What was that for?"

"I was just trying to see if you were awake."

"Well I was. I was just trying to make sense out of something I saw."

"That would take an entire lifetime for you Wolfe."

"Very funny, Delko. You're a regular comedian."

"I try."

"I bet you'll have the same reaction that I'm having."

"Reaction to what?"

"Horatio not only let Stetler interview the Johnson kid, but he let him do it alone."

"WHAT?"

"Great, I'm deaf now. Thanks a lot, Delko."

"Please tell me that the Dad isn't going to sue us for any damage that Rick may have caused by talking to the kid."

"I hate to say it, but I honestly don't think it went bad at all. From what I could see, the kid was smiling as he talked to him. Besides I managed to get a copy of the tape but I haven't listened to it yet."

Eric ignored Ryan, and instead pulled out his cell phone and punched in Calleigh's number. It took several rings before she answered.

"Calleigh?"

"What's up?"

"Did you know that Horatio allowed Stetler to interview the Johnson boy alone?"

"No I didn't know that." Whatever Calleigh had said next was drowned out by her honking the horn.

"Calleigh, what are you doing?"

"We're following a new lead that was discovered from Rick's interview with the Johnson boy."

"We? Is Horatio with you?"

"I can answer that one for you Eric. He's with Mac Taylor following another lead in the Darius case."

"Ryan's right, Eric. Horatio is not with me."

"Then who is?"

There was a hesitation over the line that caused him to frown. However, when he heard Calleigh's voice again, it was obvious she wasn't speaking to him.

"Are you sure?" He heard another person in the car with her but he couldn't quite place who the voice belonged to.

"Fine. Eric, I want you to take a deep breath and hold it while I tell you this. I'm heading to Fort Lauderdale with Rick."

"WHAT? Are you crazy Calleigh?"

"Eric, shut up. Rick said that he had a copy of the tape made and if the two of you don't believe that he just wants to help then the two of you are free to listen to it."

"Tell him that we will listen to it but not to expect us to change our opinions."

"I'm not a messenger pigeon, Eric," Calleigh muttered as she relayed the message.

"Whatever."

"Fine. This is the last thing I'm relaying between both of you, since you are actually making a valid point, Rick. If either of you has anything else that they would like the other person to know then they can tell them themselves."

"What did he say?" Eric pressed.

"He said that having opinions is one thing, but you're supposed to follow the evidence and not let your opinions cloud the facts."

Ryan couldn't help but smirk as Eric did a perfect imitation of a fish as he ended the call. "What did she say?"

When Eric repeated the relayed message, Ryan fought to maintain a straight face, but it was a losing battle. "Zip it, Wolfe," he growled, which only served to further amuse Ryan.

"I never… I never thought I'd say this, but Stetler actually has a point."

"Brownnoser."

"Nope, that's not true. What would I have to gain by agreeing with the man?"

"Just turn on the tape so we can hear what went on."

"Which is you avoiding mentioning the fact that you were wrong and I was right."

"Is that the tape of the interview?"

"Nice way of changing the topic, but yes it is."

"Then play the stupid thing and let's hear how it went."

When the tape finished, Eric shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"Me neither. If only he could handle normal internal affairs investigations that way."

Eric snorted. "As if… What planet are you from?"

"You may be right about that, but still he has been doing better you have to admit."

"I don't have to admit anything. Besides, it's probably a ploy to get us to lower our guards around him…"

"I don't know, Eric."

"Why are you saying that?"

"You know Horatio practically has a sixth sense when it comes to trusting people. Do you honestly think that if it was tingling, he'd not only let Stetler interview the kid but also alone? Which, as we just heard, he actually did a surprisingly good job."

"I don't know why it isn't. The two of them haven't been at each other's throats since that sparing match that I ended up missing out on."

"You really should have been there. But if you are so concerned, why don't you give Horatio a call?"

"I just might do that."

xXxXx

Rick had just pulled the Hummer onto the stable grounds when his phone started ringing. A quick check at the caller ID revealed that it was Eric. Rick sighed and resisted the urge to throw the phone out the window and drive over it. Mac just shook his head as he unbuckled the seat belt and exited the vehicle.

"What is it, Eric?" he growled.

"Wolfe and I have some concerns about Stetler's involvement in this case."

"Eric!" Rick could hear Wolfe hissing over the connection. "When I told you to ask H, I didn't mean for you to drag me into the middle of things."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Enough is enough. Eric, Rick and I had a serious discussion the other day. If you want further details you will have to ask him. Now, I don't have time for this childish behavior. Call me when you have some news." With that Rick ended the call.

Something was bugging him. Mac had been watching the redhead ever since they left the Crime Lab, but he couldn't pinpoint just what it was about the other man that was bothering him. Frowning slightly, the New York detective opened his mouth to ask a question but quickly closed it when he noticed that the stable's manager was approaching them.

"Can someone please tell me why I have a Hummer along with six police cars sitting on stable grounds with sirens blaring and lights flashing? It's spooking all of the horses."

"We're here following a lead in a murder investigation," Mac curtly explained.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Does it look like we're kidding?" Rick growled.

"The guy we're chasing is a fugitive from New York. He's armed, dangerous, and on a killing spree down here in Miami."

"But what does that have to do with the Cocoa Riding Club?"

Rick took a step closer to the manager, who involuntarily took a step backwards. "We believe that he is now targeting someone specific. An Alexa Endecott. Do you know if she is here?"

The manager frowned. "I haven't seen her recently. But, I can tell you that she was jumping steeples earlier."

"Where was that?"

"It's down that way," he told the detectives pointing off to his right, but Rick and Mac were already on the move.

"Could you not…" The manager started to call out to the two men, but they were already out of earshot. "…walk on the grass?" he finished with a sigh.

Mac and Rick had almost reached the steeple grounds when they heard the dull pounding of hooves on the ground heading their way followed but a shrill whinny. They barely had enough time to dive towards the side as the panicked horse barreled right past where they had been standing mere seconds ago.

"Are you okay, Horatio?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good," Mac said, standing up. They both looked at the horse that had just barreled past them. His legs were splayed out to the sides and he was breathing heavily.

Rick watched as the New York detective cautiously approached the spooked horse while making noises that were meant to calm the large animal. Rick could see that it was working. Once Mac had a hold of the animal's bridle, Rick cautiously approached.

When the horse calmed down, Rick stepped closer and reached out to pet the horse on the top of his head, he had to quickly pull his hand back in order to cover his mouth when he sneezed. Frowning when a second sneeze soon followed, Rick found himself stepping back away from the horse as he could feel the beginnings of a headache.

"Well, that answers the question of why you never did a rotation with the mounted police," Mac commented as he looked over the horse.

Rick rolled his eyes at that and fought the urge to wipe his nose on his sleeve jacket. In all the time that he had known Horatio, he had never seen the older man do something like that. Instead he sniffed deeply, trying to hold off until he got back to the Hummer where he knew a box of Kleenex was waiting.

"Horatio I hate to ask you to step closer, but take a look at this."

"What is it, Mac?" Rick asked, taking a step closer to the horse as he tried to hold in the sneeze that was threatening to escape. The last thing he needed to do was spook the horse again.

"There's a small medallion attached to his bridle, with the initials A E engraved into it."

About that time, Rick lost the battle against holding the sneeze in. Turning his head to the side, he tried to bring up his hand in order to cover his mouth but he wasn't fast enough. The sneeze was loud, but thankfully it didn't spook the horse too much. He half-reared, but Mac's voice was helping to soothe the animal. "Nice work, Mac," Rick managed to get out before another sneeze tore through both his nose and mouth causing his eyes to water.

"Horatio, can you get me a swab out of your kit? It looks like there is some blood on the saddle and it's still wet."

As much as Rick wanted to tell the other man to go get the swabs himself, he knew that it wasn't a good idea. He could grab some of the tissue while he was at the vehicle. Plus, it would put some distance temporarily between him and the horse.

When he got back he was going to get Horatio alone and ask him how come he neglected to mention that he was allergic to horses. It was even more annoying since Rick had never had to deal with allergies before in his life.

Upon reaching the Hummer, Rick decided to just take the entire kit with him so as not to risk contaminating anything. He also grabbed the box of tissue and closed the back door of the Hummer before hurrying back, sneezing a few times on the way.

As Alexa's horse appeared to be calming down somewhat, Mac loosened the grip he had on the bridle. Unfortunately, he hadn't expected that some idiot would slam a fence gate close and spook the animal all over again. The horse reared up on his hind legs pulling the reins out of Mac's hands and took off running.

As soon as the reins were pulled out of his hands, Mac jumped to the side before the animal's front legs hit the earth so he wouldn't be caught between hooves and the ground. As he stood back up he saw Horatio heading their way. "Horatio, WATCH OUT!"

Rick had been walking back to where he had left Mac and the horse when he heard a gate slam shut. He winced when he heard the metallic clang as he turned his attention back to Mac and the horse. Sure enough there was a loud, shrill whinny before the animal reared up and pawed the air with his front hooves. He had already tossed the kit and the Kleenex to the side when he heard Mac holler at him to watch out. Rick could only hope that the kit had stayed latched shut as he took a deep breath and watched as the animal ran straight for him.

"You can do this." Rick repeated over and over again under his breath though his mind was remembering the last time he had tried a similar crazy stunt when he was ten years old. He had ended up not getting a good grip on the reins and sliding off of the horse and bruising his tailbone.

As the horse grew closer, Rick took a deep breath and held it. He tuned out Mac's voice screaming at him to run and he reached out and grabbed the reins as he leaped up. Rick's hands closed in tightly on the reins. When he felt himself starting to slide off of the horse he dug his knees into the horse's sides, which sent him running faster. Rick found himself staying in the saddle so he loosened up with his legs as he pulled on the reins and the horse started to slow down.

Once Rick was sure that he had the horse under control, he pulled on the reins with his left hand turning the horse around so that he was walking back to where Mac was still standing. Rick frowned when he felt his nose tickling again and sure enough he sneezed, but he was able to keep a grip on the reins and he brought the horse to a stop right beside a surprised Mac Taylor.

"How did you?" Mac asked, once he was able to get his mouth working again. The only people he had seen that could do what Horatio had just done were stunt people who had years of practice. Horatio, who Mac had just discovered that was allergic to horses evidently didn't have that qualification.

Rick shrugged from atop of the horse, before turning his head away and sneezing again. "Just lucky, I guess." He said before pausing to sniff and sneezing once more. "Mac, could you please get a swab out of the kit and get a sample of the blood?" There was a short pause filled by the redhead's sneezing before he continued. "I hate to hurry you but, if it isn't too much trouble, I need you to take the reins so I can get down and put some distance between me and the horse."

Mac shook his head as he hurried over to Horatio's kit and opened it. "It's a shame…"

That earned him an arched eyebrow from Rick as he tried to hold off yet another sneeze. "What's a shame?"

"It's a shame that you're allergic to horses. You're a natural and the mounted police could've used you." As if to emphasis his point, Alexa's horse threw his head up in the air before snorting and bringing his head back down.

Before Rick had a chance to respond, he sneezed three times in rapid succession. He heard the New York Detective whisper something to the horse as he swabbed at the blood on the saddle. "Don't mean to sound rude, but could you hurry it… ah ah AH CHOO! Hurry it up."

"Okay, okay. No need to rush."

"So says the man not allergic to horses."

"No need to be grumpy, Horatio."

"Just take the reins, Mac."

The New York detective reached up and took the reins. "Need any help?"

"No, I'm sure that I can manage."

"All right." Mac agreed, watching him as he dismounted the horse with a natural grace. Rick fought back the growl at the surprised look he caught on Mac's face.

"How?"

Rick just ignored Mac as he walked over to Horatio's kit and dug around for a bit before smiling when he came across a lint roller. He quickly used it to hopefully get any hair from his clothes. "Ah CHOO!"

"Bless you."

"Here," he said, tossing the lint roller at Mac who caught it in his right hand. "Take care of that. I'll meet you at the crime scene." With that, Rick picked up the kit and took off walking leaving Mac standing there.

Once he was out of earshot, he pulled out his phone and dialed 'his' number.

"Stetler."

"Horatio," Rick paused to sniff. "I think you forgot to mention something important."

"It's Horatio." He heard his voice mention. "What do you mean?"

"I mean being allergic to horses. Isn't it something that you should have… Ah choo! …told me? Also where are you?"

"How was I supposed to know? Ms. Ducaine…" There was a brief pause as he heard Calleigh say something but he couldn't make out what it was.

"Calleigh and I are on our way to Fort Lauderdale following a lead. What happened?"

"Let's just say we found Alexa Endecott's horse but not her." Rick looked around to make sure Mac wasn't anywhere close. "Also, I think Mac is puzzled at the moment."

"Why? What is going on?"

"Well something spooked the horse as I was returning with the kit and well…"

'Well, what?'

"Well, I ended up jumping on as it ran past and managed to get it under control. Mac seems confused that for someone who is allergic to horses, I seem to be a natural rider."

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Caine, there you are."

Rick turned around and saw that there was a young patrol officer running towards him and Mac had dealt with the horse and was also approaching. He sighed. "Keep me informed and I'll do the same."

"Will do."

Rick ended the call and gave a nod to Mac who arrived a few minutes before the officer did.

"What did you do with the horse? Not that I'm complaining. At least you didn't bring him with you."

"I made an arrangement with the stable manager to borrow one of their horse trailers so that we can take the horse back to the lab.

Rick was glad that there wasn't anything in reaching distance that he could pound his head on. "Let me guess, the trailer is hooked up to the Hummer.

"Very good, Horatio."

Before Rick could retaliate, the patrol officer had joined them. "What is it?"

"We found the security guy for the club. He's been hurt and rescue is on the way."

"When it rains, it pours," Rick muttered under his breath the two men followed the officer. A few minutes later, they found themselves at the rear entrance to the club.

Rick took in the security guard's condition the best he could. The younger man was holding his hand to his neck applying pressure, but there was no blood oozing out from under his hand. If his neck had been cut, then he was actually lucky given what he had read about Darius. However, he kept his thoughts to himself. "What happened?"

"I was… I was making my rounds when this guy stepped out in front of my car holding a knife at this girl's throat."

"Alexa Endecott, most likely," he heard Mac comment.

The security guard was shivering slightly. "I got out of the car and tried to help but he told me not to make another move. He pressed the knife in deeper and the tip punctured her skin, so I stopped."

"Then what?" Rick gently pressed.

"He… He made her take my gun without taking the knife away from her throat and once he had possession of my gun…"

"What did he do then?" Mac demanded.

The guy ordered me to get the keys out of the car and open the trunk."

"Did you do it?"

The guard was trembling as he answered. "At first no, I didn't. But, he pressed the point of the knife harder into Alexa's neck drawing more blood so I eventually did open the trunk," he replied looking down at the ground.

There was a moment of silence, but before either Mac or Rick could ask him anything else, the guard began talking once more. "He made me walk over to the entrance booth and stand there while he shoved Alexa into the car's trunk and closed the lid. I know that she was alive at that point because I heard her pounding on the trunk. Then, the next thing I knew I felt the cold steel of the knife blade against my throat as he took the hat off of my head before he drug the blade lightly across my throat. It was enough to break the skin but thankfully not deep enough to do any serious damage. Then, he must have hit me on the head because I blacked out."

Rick glanced up and saw that Rescue had arrived and were rushing towards them. He stepped back, causing Mac to look up before following his lead. Feeling another sneeze coming, he quickly covered his mouth and turned his head. Thankfully, the sneezes were coming less often now.

Rick caught the amused smile on the New York detective's face and elbowed him.

Mac sighed at the contact before giving his head a slight shake and swallowing deeply. The elbow to his side seemed to refocus the Mac's attention back to where it needed to be, on the case.

Mac mentally cursed himself. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by allowing the images his imagination was creating to float through his mind when he talked with Darius. He needed all his wits about him. Besides, he didn't even know if Horatio was available, much less, if he swings that way.