Hi everyone... Just a short note to those of you who have reviewed my story so far... Thanks for your support, I'm glad you're enjoying it...

Todays chapter may seem quite long, but that is deliberate... As you will find out tomorrow...

Enjoy

Lucy

Chapter 21

It had come to the point where the team had begun to dread Monday mornings. Though their other cases were working out well, and their success rate was as good as ever, the Cartel assassinations were getting everyone down. Horatio knew his team were losing their confidence.

The calls came as expected, just as everyone was taking their first coffee of the day, the two properties were close to each other, so the team travelled together, trying to boost each others confidence. The first property as before gave them nothing, but at the second, the crime scene was a little more forthcoming.

"Looks like our assassin got messy. Either that, or their victim woke up." Ryan was shining his penlight around, trying to spot anything that would help.

"Wait a minute Ryan, shine your light back over here."

Horatio turned to see what Calleigh had spotted, seeing her dig into the wall, he smiled, you could always rely on her to find a bullet. Eric found the casing on the floor, "Looks like our vic managed to get one off before being split through the middle." indicating the gun close by.

"Oh my god."

The three men spun at Calleigh's tone, and grinned at the swab in her hand. At the end, the cotton wool was dyed a delicate shade of pink. With a sigh of relief, H smiled, "We have a lead. Lets work it." Leaving Eric and Ryan to continue, H and Calleigh returned to the lab with what they had – including more computer files for Dan.

"When you get these last two sets on that database of yours, I want a list of names – people known by all our victims over the last five years." Dan nodded, picking up on the relief in H's voice. The team were moving again.

Taking the bullet through to the lab, Calleigh very carefully swabbed it down before passing it on. "Something wrong Call?"

She shrugged her shoulders as she looked at her boss. "I hope there's enough for us to test, otherwise our only lead may have us all swearing."

Leaning up against the table next to her, H smiled, "Don't worry, Dan's working on something for me – hopefully he'll come up with something we can work with."

"The list of names?"

H nodded, "Yeah, in his case, the more information we can get, the better – because it will give him more detail to work with."

"It's fortunate that everyone likes to use computers these days then isn't it." Calleigh's comment made H laugh, "Imagine trying to do this in the old days. No mobiles, No AFIS, No nothing." H smiled, certain aspects of police work had got easier, the downside was, it made the criminals smarter.

&&&

Whistling as he walked through the door, H gave Mich a big hug, which she returned with a short kiss. Since the evening they had slept on the sofa together, she was more comfortable and relaxed around Horatio, more open, trusting. H was happy Mich was letting him in, finally trusting him – though not quite completely, but he knew now that it was only a matter of time.

She couldn't help but laugh at his good mood, her eyes sparkling,"What's got into you?"

Horatio smiled, "We got lucky – or the assassin got unlucky. One of his victims managed to clip him with a bullet, we had a small trace of blood."

Mich tried to keep her face as neutral as possible "Think you'll get anything from it?"

H sighed, "Not sure, Calleigh said that the amount of blood on the bullet was so small, she wasn't certain if there would be enough to read. We'll know by the end of the week." Trying not to let H see how relieved she was, Mich congratulated him on the team's work.

"Listen, did you prepare anything for dinner?"

Mich gave him a speculative look, "Not really, why?"

H smiled shyly, "Fancy eating out? Just the two of us, we haven't been since you beat me at chess a few weeks ago."

It didn't take Mich long to make up her mind. Putting her arms around H's waist, she smiled back. "Why not, let me see if Kyra and Nicky will make do with pizza."

About 45 minutes later, after a quick shower and change of clothes, Mich joined H in his car and the two of them set out, leaving a smiling Kyra and Nicky to sort themselves out – Kyra had insisted on Chinese – Nicky, Mexican.

"Where to?"

Mich was surprised. H usually chose where they went and she was never disappointed, she thought about where she would like to go. "How about that quiet place near the beach." H grinned, Mich liked fish, though rarely cooked it at home, she didn't generally have a lot of time to prepare meals.

&&&

Ramon was almost beside himself with anger and grief, Santi was gone. He couldn't believe it. One of his closest friends and associates was currently in the morgue, and the police were climbing all over his condo.

Driving past that morning, he couldn't fail to notice Lieutenant Caine. Now that the police had access to the information that might be stored on Santi's computer, he was definitely feeling the pinch. He was running out of time. Especially with a damned assassin running around. Ramon was no fool, he expected to be hit, and took precautions because of it..

This weekend he would lie low, a shipment was coming in on Monday and he needed to be there to meet it, but the following weekend. Before his death, Santi had found out that the Lieutenant was finally staying over at the girlfriends place on weekends. He could use that to his advantage. Though he did wonder what had taken the Lieutenant so long.

Ramon smiled to himself. Yes, the following weekend, he would avenge Clavo and then he could begin taking over Miami.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Mich was laughing, Horatio was in such a good mood, it had rubbed off on her, and for the moment she could forget about the other side of her life. Dinner had been great, and when she had talked about taking a walk along the beach 'to work of the excess calories' – they had both had Banoffee pie for desert, H had teased her for being an incurable romantic.

Putting his arm around her shoulders, H felt Mich flinch. "What's wrong?"

Mich carefully answered, "Oh I just caught my arm on something in the barn, just a scratch really."

Lifting her sleeve, H noticed the short, deep graze on her arm, but shrugged his shoulders "I never realised you were so accident prone…"

Mich gave him a relieved, but teasing smile, "Not going to take me to the hospital?"

H sighed; in the time they had been together, he had seen Mich thrown by an exuberant young horse, bitten by a new one (which was sold the next day – Mich hated horses that bit – especially those that had been bought for clients) and get bruised when fooling around with some of the kids in a lesson (a pony had stepped on her foot). "One day I'll get used to it… I promise."

Stopping next to a seat, he pulled Mich into his arms, happy that she no longer tensed up for the kiss that always followed, and then was pleasantly surprised when Mich moved in closer, silently asking for a stronger contact. Sitting down on the bench, he wrapped his arm around her, grinning as she tucked in under his arm. Kissing her on the forehead, he was rewarded with a shy smile as she snuggled in closer. Though Horatio did not realise it, moments like this gave Mich the strength to continue her final job.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The following morning, H found his team happy, their morale boosted now they had something to work with. Calleigh had confirmed that the gun found at the condo had been the same one that had fired the bullet, which was in pretty good shape, also helping Calleigh to identify that the gun had been used in several other crimes.

Talking to Ryan and Eric, she admitted that part of her hoped that they wouldn't find the assassin, "If he's this good at taking the bad guys out, we should let him continue. We could solve several old cases in no time."

Not having anything else to work on until the DNA result came through, Ryan went back to his search for 'gifted' Samurai swords. There were some interesting articles in a couple of old European newspapers that had caught his eye.

Eric was working a couple of leads in an old case, and got the feeling that someone he had interviewed was not quite giving the full story, and asked H to join him. Unfortunately, the person in question was not at home, so they returned back to the lab.

On the way back, Eric asked H to stop on Ocean Drive. "I'll just be a couple of minutes H… please." Intrigued, H parked, and followed Eric into a jewellery shop. Raising his eyebrows at the younger man, H made Eric laugh. "It's a little too soon for that H, but I have to get Kate something to say thanks. She's been really helping me to chill out after work… otherwise I would have gone crazy by now."

Seeing the white gold necklace that Eric had chosen, complete with seahorse – appropriate considering Kate liked to ride and dive, H smiled, the fact that Eric was even considering a close partnership with Kate was already an indication of how that relationship was going. As they turned to leave, something caught his eye, and he smiled… Mich would love it. It wasn't cheap, but she was worth it. He would come back later in the week to get it; alone…

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Natalia had run the tests on the DNA and had fortunately managed to get a result, looking at Calleigh, she smiled, "You're lucky Calleigh. I just managed, there was barely enough." Calleigh walked through the lab with a big grin on her face, soon spotted by Eric and Ryan, they joined her on the way to Horatio's office.

Looking at his team walking through the door, he didn't need to ask, "Let's take a look at what we have shall we?" They waited as H took a look at the print out. He was stunned, "our assassin is female!"

Eric and Ryan couldn't believe it, "Are you serious H. We're looking for a woman!"

Calleigh started laughing. "In some ways, I'm not surprised. You men are so untidy. Take a look at Alexx's lab. You could eat off the floor in there." The three of them scowled at her… and then began laughing.

Going through CODIS, the team were expectant, most of the DNA stored on the database was male, so it shouldn't take long to identify their assassin. Calleigh typed in her name and password, and they sat back to wait. However, as the machine gave them a match – it also gave them a message…. ACCESS DENIED.

Calling Dan, Calleigh was extremely disappointed, "Is there a problem with the computer?"

Dan shook his head, "No, everything's fine.. Cal."

H walked in, and seeing the message on the screen became annoyed, "Let me try…" Putting in his own information, the team waited…. ACCESS DENIED.

Horatio was stunned. He had a higher security clearance than his team, but he still couldn't access the system… Returning to his office, he swore, someone was playing games in Miami. In his backyard. His next phone call went to Clarkson. After a few minutes, he put the phone down, and headed for the conference room, taking his team with him.

A moment later, Clarkson arrived, looking as mystified as Horatio. "I ran the details through our system too… I can't get in either."

Sitting down, he placed a file in front of him. "Our BAU people put some information together and have come to the conclusion that your assassin is a professional."

Ryan smirked, "We realised that already…"

Clarkson gave him a cold look, "You don't understand… We are talking about a highly trained professional."

The smirk disappeared from Ryan's face. Wide-eyed, he looked around the room, "Are you talking CIA?"

Clarkson nodded, "Or similar. One of the European agencies possibly, or Mossad."

"Why them?" Calleigh was curious.

"Because they are the only ones who would be allowed to operate against the Cartels on American soil. Better for CIA in fact, they would not have to expose one of their own."

As his team went back to work on their evidence, H remained behind. "Do you think the Agency are involved?"

Clarkson nodded. "The more information you collect, the more it looks that way. My boss is furious – someone has gone over his head on this, he's making calls."

H shook his head… He had local juristiction, Clarkson and Sackheim had state backing them, but if this was an Agency job… There was no telling where this would stop.

"How's the city…?"

The question surprised Horatio, but he saw Clarkson's point. "Drug related crime is down and we're getting reports of the leisure users cutting back."

It would take the Cartels quite some time to recover. Someone was finally doing something about the drug problem in Miami, it had been out of control for years, but to do that job, the information had to come from somewhere.

&&

Meeting back in H's office, they discussed what to do. Ryan wanted to persue the newspaper reports, and Eric and Calleigh were going to go over all the other evidence together, just in case either of them had missed something.

Horatio had agreed to wait, to see what Clarkson could turn up, but he was still interested in what Dan had managed to find. Walking to the young programmers station, he saw Dan grinning, "All the data has been entered H, just starting to run it."

Dan also showed him other information he had gained from the files, discussions of who had met where, plans that had been made. He had found calendars and matched them with shipments that had been brought in to Miami, "We have so much to work with here Lieutenant, the Bureau are re-opening a couple of cases. "

Spotting a calendar, H noted that Dan had marked it. "What's this?"

Dan looked. "I'm not sure… I cross referenced it from Mitchell, Santiago and the first two victims. It's for Monday night."

H grinned, "They were all Ramon Cruz's people. If I'm guessing right, that's a shipment coming in… Notify Clarkson, and see if he minds if we join in."

Checking the time, he left a message that he was going out for a few minutes and went to the jeweller's shop to pick up the gift for Mich. As he was walking back to the Hummer, he suddenly felt cold. The information that he had was sorting itself out in his mind… Surely not… Shaking off the feeling, he returned to the lab, gift safely stored away.

&&&&

Mich was grumbling to herself. The judge was going to be the hardest target to take out. Married and with a mistress or two, she would have no opportunity to meet him alone. It would have to be a long distance job, no worries, she knew the place and the time. Planning the operation, she smiled. After this and one more, she would be free.

Horatio was just leaving when Dan called him. "I've got your list Lieutenant, 75 names to go through." H smiled, Dan had done a very thorough job, 75 names from over a thousand was an acceptable list to work through.

He was about to take a quick look when he changed his mind, "I'll check it out tomorrow. You go have a good weekend. You've earnt it…Thanks Dan."

Taking a quick look at the present he'd bought for Mich, he realised what the date was and chuckled to himself. Exactly eight months since the bank… Mich would laugh at the irony. He hoped she would like the surprise…

&&&

Parking outside the barn, H carefully checked that he still had his little gift for Michelle. Eight months had passed since that fateful day when he'd had to shoot her in the shoulder to kill the robber that was holding her hostage. Chuckling to himself, he wondered if he would have taken the shot if he'd known what would happen. Cupid had upgraded from a bow and arrow.

Life with Mich was certainly lively, almost as much of a workaholic as he was; she seemed to have several things going on at once. Although he only came to her place in the evenings – and on weekends when he wasn't working, H always went home at around midnight. He had only stayed overnight on two occasions – last weekend in the guest room, and once a short time ago when they had both fallen asleep on the sofa, waking up at 5.30 the following morning. Sheepishly, he had left, not wanting Mich to feel awkward about the situation, though she had told him not to worry…

Though normally a cheerful person – ready to laugh and joke around, Mich's past had also made her cynical – with a temper that most people tried to avoid and he had seen how volatile she could be. Quick witted, Mich could tell stories to make people laugh, but could also use her tongue viciously, shredding people to pieces if she felt it necessary.

H had seen – and felt - the down side of her temper on a few occasions, but realised that in all but two of those occasions, Mich had been justified, she didn't lose her temper just for the sake of it. The first time, in his opinion, had been the tanker on the interstate. The second when he had tried to stand up for Nicky after something had gone wrong in the barn. Mich had told him quite frankly to 'butt out. He doesn't need a lawyer."

Walking into the kitchen through the back door, he smiled when he saw Mich up to her elbows in the sink. She was washing a couple of saddle blankets ready for a competition that weekend. H was hoping to go and watch, though ever since she had fallen with Firestrike, he was nervous watching her. Sliding his arms around her waist he could sense the smile on her face. Mich loved hugs.

"Now that's what I like to see; a woman with her arms in the kitchen sink."

An indignant "Ooh you;" and a flick of soap suds was her reply. H chuckled, he could tease her to a point – and often did. "For that, you can have bread and butter for dinner." Leaning his chin on her head, he could smell that she had already showered and glanced at the clock, he was late this evening.

"Where's Kyra?" Mich's daughter would usually come and give him a hug after allowing a few moments to pass, but there was no sign of her this evening.

"Slumber party this weekend, tonight and tomorrow night – I don't know how Sasha's mum can stand it. She has eight of them – it's Sasha's birthday. Wet 'n' Wild and Epcot tomorrow for them."

H cautiously checked in the oven, he had smelt something as he came through the door. The oven baked pasta was almost ready. Going back to Mich, he noticed that her ponytail had pulled round to one side of her neck – revealing the top of her spine. H paused, he had been very careful not to push Mich into anything after the traumatic experiences she had had in the past, letting her take the lead; but what he saw was just a little too inviting to be ignored.

Giving her a hug, he gently kissed the back of her neck and couldn't help but feel the shiver that ran down her spine. Smiling to himself, he also noticed that she didn't tense up, which she always did when she wasn't happy with what he'd done. So he did it again. The shiver was stronger and this time he got a reaction, but not what he was expecting.

"What are you up to Horatio Caine?"

"Just saying 'Hello'."

Mich chuckled. "If that's a hello, could I find out what a 'Good evening' is?" H thought carefully. He didn't want to scare her too much. Every so often, Mich would push the boundaries of her fear and it seemed that this was one of those moments. Smiling, he kissed the side of her neck, just under her ear, and was rewarded with another shiver and a chuckle; "I like that one."

Turning her around, he chanced a deeper kiss to her lips and held longer than he had previously. Just as he felt her body begin to tense, he released her with a tender smile. Mich was startled, but that smile and the look in his eyes helped her to relax again. "What was that?!"

Horatio laughed. "Hi honey I'm home – Is dinner ready? – I'm starving."

Mich threw the towel at him. "Ooh you…"

Deftly, he caught the missile in the air and put it on the table. "Do I have time for a shower…and to change?"

Mich nodded. "You're working too late again Horatio and I bet Eric was with you." H smiled. "I thought so, Kate is going to skin him alive one of these days. She hates it when he's late for dinner." Shaking her head, she watched him going upstairs.

Mich was concerned, the whole team were pushing it – trying to get a break through on the turf war that had broken out in Miami after JB had been killed by Ramon Cruz. It meant that Ramon had put a hold on his revenge, but that wouldn't last long, and Ramon would soon come hunting again. Mich wasn't worried – she was ready for him, the danger to her was the team itself, if they found out her involvement in this, it would mean the end of her life here in Miami.

After dinner, Mich washed up quickly while H flipped through her CD collection. He smiled as he remembered how surprised they'd both been when they'd discovered they had similar interests in music. Spotting a Soft Rock compilation CD, he chuckled quietly – it was one of Mich's favourites. Grinning to himself, he also turned off the lights and lit a few of the candles that were around the room.

As Mich walked in she hesitated; seeing the candles, and hearing the music, she knew for sure that he was up to something and said so; H smiled. Walking over to her, he admitted that he had something for her, giving her a short kiss; he pulled her over to the sofa to sit down. H got himself comfortable, lying on his side on the wide sofa, with Mich sitting next to him – her knees drawn up to her chin, feet level with his chest, H took the small flat box out of the back pocket of his jeans.

Mich looked at H uncertainly. What was going on? "Open it." H's soft words drew her in and she cautiously opened the box… Smiling, Mich told herself off for being silly, she had thought of something else entirely; then realised the box was the wrong shape. Biting her bottom lip, she saw the rope-like silver chain, hanging from which could only be - she started to laugh quietly - a silver bullet within its casing.

"You do realise that its exactly eight months since that morning at the bank."

Mich chuckled "You've been counting the days." As she put her feet onto the floor, Horatio sat up to put on the necklace for her and could not resist another kiss to her spine. As he slid his hands off her shoulders he felt the knot in her shoulder muscles. "Been practicing your dressage again?"

Mich nodded. Due to a bad fall over 10 years before, practising the first element of the three day event always left her with a stiff back, especially when she was training the younger horses. H began to gently knead at the muscle in her shoulders, trying to relax the fibres, but today was a bad one. "Which horse?"

"Can't you guess?"

H shook his head. "Not sure, has to be one of the new ones." Mich nodded. The muscle wasn't budging. Changing his position to sit directly behind Mich, H started to increase the pressure with his fingers.

"Hang on a moment H." Mich took off the thin fleece jumper she was wearing. The nights were getting cooler, and Christmas was only 7 weeks away.

Without the jumper in the way, H soon began to feel the muscle relax, as the massage began to have an effect. Mich closed her eyes and let her head drop forwards slightly. Totally relaxed, she sighed when H stopped. "Thanks Horatio, I needed that." As H once again began to stretch out on the sofa, Mich turned around and gave him a kiss.

"If that's for the massage, what do I get for the gift?" H teased, Mich's eyes sparkled with humour.

"Mmm let me see. Fillet steak in mushroom sauce?" Seeing the look on H's face she laughed. "No, not good enough; Pasta with chicken and mushroom in white sauce - with chocolate fudge brownies for dessert?" Mich couldn't help laughing at the expressions H was pulling.

Kneeling on the floor, she gave H another kiss; this one a little deeper and longer than before. Putting his hand behind her head, H drew her back for another, repeating the kiss in the kitchen. Releasing her, he smiled. "That was nice; though I thought I might get a little more for platinum."

Mich opened her eyes wide "Oh H you didn't. It must have cost a fortune."

"Worth every cent to see the look you have on your face right now."

Sitting up a little, H pulled Mich close. Taking a chance, he kissed her again. Unlike a few weeks before, Mich didn't pull away, or tense up, but yielded and responded. H drew her deeper to him, and chanced a little, gently catching her bottom lip with his teeth. Mich's eyes snapped open. But there was no fear here.

H realised he'd caught a nerve, and filed it away in hi mind with the kisses on the spine and neck, he could use those another day. Pulling Mich to lie on the sofa with him, something he'd done a few weeks before when she'd said she was tired, he noticed a softness in her eyes, that had not been there before. As Mich snuggled in closer, and closed her eyes, he knew that another step had been taken – Mich was letting him in.