Chapter 21

Ryan followed the directions on the hand-drawn map in his hand, and it was just after lunchtime when he was finally well within the confines of the Miami City limits. He powered up his cell phone and speed-dialed Eric. The call was quickly answered and a barrage of excited questions came flooding over the phone line.

"Ryan! Oh, man, thank God you called! Where are you? Where's Calleigh? Is everyone OK? How's H?"

"Eric, calm down," Ryan answered, smiling. "Everyone's fine. H got a few extra little scrapes, but he's OK. Calleigh and Kyle are good too."

Eric breathed an audible sigh of relief. But then it was his turn to start answering questions.

"Eric, look, I need to know the details of the shooting at the hospital. What kind of threat are we dealing with?" Ryan asked, still navigating through traffic.

Delko quickly ran down all the details, and emphasized the fact that it was a one-off, coincidental, drug-fuelled event, and although Horatio still certainly had a lot of enemies out there, this time it seemed that the coast was clear. The imminent threat had been eliminated. The group could come out of hiding, and H could go home.

"That is some very, very good news, my man," Ryan responded with a relieved smile. Then he took a deep breath. "But I still think we should proceed with extreme caution, especially over the phone. I'll fill you in with all the details from our end another time, but for right now I'm going to drop back off the grid again. But don't worry Eric. Everything's good. Expect a call again tomorrow, about the same time. OK?"

"Yeah, I agree, good thinking. I'll be looking for your call tomorrow." Eric answered. There was a pause, and then he added, "Hey, Ryan… you sure you're alright? You sound… I don't know… kinda wiped out. Are you really OK?"

"OK, yeah, you got me," came the good-natured reply. "I'm a little short on sleep. But I'm fine. Really. Nothing to worry about. Catch you tomorrow."

"All right. But you make sure you call me, Wolfe," Eric said seriously. "Whenever, wherever you need me, I'm there. You keep me in the loop, OK?"

"You got it."

Ryan quickly ended the call and powered off his cell phone as he made a U-turn and headed back towards the City limits. He realized that it would probably be fine to leave the phone on, but like he said to Eric, he was still playing it safe. With the relief of the new knowledge that the immediate danger had passed, the heavy hands of exhaustion began to weigh on his shoulders. He headed along the Interstate and cranked up the AC, wanting the chilly cold to help keep him sharp and alert. He thought about pulling off one of the exits and grabbing a jumbo-sized Starbucks, but there was no time for that. He felt more compelled to get back to the safe house and relay the information he had. He knew Calleigh would be on pins and needles waiting for his return.

Soon civilization was well behind him and there was nothing but swamp droning past him on both sides. He rubbed his neck and adjusted his position in the big leather driver's seat several times. After a while he exited the main highway and began weaving his way along the back roads, frequently consulting the map Calleigh had drawn for him. By his rough calculations, he should be back at the safe house in another 45 minutes or so. The afternoon sun was still glowing brightly, but just beginning to start its slow descent toward the horizon. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, willing the fatigue away. His mind began to drift. He looked out the side window, peering across the Everglades, and thought how primitively beautiful it was. Raw nature, in all its glory. He saw a large blue heron launch itself into the air and majestically take flight, its wide wing span of gray-blue feathers casting a graceful silhouette against the natural green backdrop.

Realizing that his mind was wandering, he forced himself back to the task at hand. He lightly shook his head, and quickly rubbed his tired eyes. Blinking several times, he forced himself to refocus on the gravel road ahead of him… and he almost didn't see the danger in time.

His tired brain took a few extra milliseconds to recognize and respond as he caught his breath and barely had time to utter a few swear words… He slammed on the brakes and wrenched the wheel hard to the left, careening off the coarse gravel road and into the muddy swamp. Cascades of murky water splashed in every direction as the heavy SUV plowed through it, finally coming to rest well off the road. The big Hummer quickly settled into the muck, the water level rising a few inches up above the base of the doors. Ryan heard a thick sucking sound as the vehicle sank even lower into the slog…

Gotta get out of here… his mind raced, thinking the vehicle was somehow going to sink completely. But the door was jammed shut. He thrashed and flailed against it, but it refused to budge.

With his adrenaline pumping, he rolled down the driver's window and climbed clumsily out, landing with a loud splash in the greenish black water. He immediately recovered and got to his feet, and sloshed his way to the relative safety of the elevated gravel road, heart racing and lungs gasping for air.

Now soaking wet, he took a moment and forced himself to calm down. He stood there in the middle of the road and looked around. The Hummer was nearly half-submerged in a slimy bog, but appeared to be sinking no further. He looked back behind him, and saw the cause of this whole mess was still there, glaring at him defiantly…

The 12-foot alligator that had bolted up onto the road sat there with its jaws gaping open, hissing menacingly, tail twitching. Ryan immediately wondered why he had even swerved to avoid damn thing, as he could now very easily be its dinner. He backed up a few more paces, knowing full well that he could not outrun this monster if it decided to charge after him. But the Jurassic looking beast thankfully turned back the way it had come, and slipped back into the swamp and out of sight.

"Holy shit," Ryan muttered to himself. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, but it was dripping wet due to his rather sloppy exit from the Hummer. It had been rendered unusable.

Looking back at the half-drowned SUV, he saw that he had his work cut out for him. He began to click through the immediate tasks in his head… winch, cable, tools… He groaned, knowing this was not going to be easy. But this was his only means of transportation, and he had to get back to the safe house, no matter what. Quickly glancing up at the sky, he muttered a few more curses at the realization that he didn't have a whole lot of time to dawdle. He was not thrilled with the idea of milling around out here after dark with that damn gator and several of his buddies trolling around. He had better get busy…

He put his hand on his weapon and looked around cautiously before wading back into the mushy water towards the Hummer…

Back at the safe house:

Calleigh pulled back the corner of the small curtain at the front window and peered outside, seeing nothing but the empty rutted road. It was probably the twentieth time she had done that same thing in the last hour. The late afternoon sun was just beginning to show some hints of pastel shades in the sky.

Horatio had been on his feet for a little while, insisting on helping Kyle with the dirty dishes. But fatigue quickly took over and he had reluctantly returned to the kitchen chair, leaning heavily against the tabletop. He was getting that exhausted and drained feeling again, but fought to stay awake for the time being. He could sense Calleigh's rising tension level. Things were not going as planned.

She resumed her nervous, unsettled pacing.

"Calleigh…" he began, but got no farther.

"He should've been back by now," she said quickly, her voice heavy with concern.

"I'm sure he's fine," Horatio replied, trying his best to sound reassuring.

Calleigh looked back out the window front window again. "I hope so. I just have a bad feeling that something's terribly wrong…"

Reviews always welcome! Next chapter will be up very soon… Thanks for reading!