Chapter 28

The team were worried, Horatio had withdrawn into himself and was not speaking to any of them, unless it was related to work, spending most of his time in his office, clearing away paperwork. So much in fact, that there was almost nothing left in his 'in' tray.

"What's going on Eric?" Calleigh was the first to voice the question that was bugging them all.

"I don't know Calleigh, Kate told me that Mich is much the same… She won't say anything either." Eric sat in the small rest room taking a sip of his coffee…

"All I know is what Nicky told Kate. That H went to see Mich a couple of days ago in the afternoon, and hasn't been back since."

"Did they have some kind of fight?"

Eric shook his head. "According to Nicky, they just sat and talked for maybe 15 – 20 minutes, then H left. Apparently, he looked very upset; Nicky can't work it out either."

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In his office, Horatio was staring at a letter that he had taken the time to write earlier that day. Reading through it, he grimaced, the letter itself was word perfect, but the feeling itself was not in it… Mich was right… He would never be able to give up his work for the city. Furious with himself, he scrunched the resignation letter into a ball and threw it in the waste paper bin.

As he began to brood over the current situation, H thought back to the times he had spent with Mich; was there truly any feeling between them, or had Mich merely cultivated their friendship to help her cover? How did she really feel about him?

He dismissed the negative thoughts. The anger and fear had been real. So had the tears… So why was Mich pushing him away?

&&&

Mich was riding around the farm…. Alone... Though she did this from time to time, this particular occasion was unusual, in that she was riding one of the young horses. Normally the young horses would go out on accompanied rides, but this was the young horse she had bought after falling with Firestrike. Nicky had called him White Knight…

Smiling to herself, she remembered the day he had arrived. The same day the Watsons had turned up to take Firestrike from her, they were refusing to pay their final bill and Mich was getting angry.

The horse had turned up just as Tony Watson was turning to leave – only to come face to face with Horatio, who had dropped in to see if Mich wanted to join him for lunch. H's presence had caused Mr Watson to settle, and Nicky had said that they should call the horse White Knight initially as a joke, but the name had stuck, much to H's embarrassment at first, but then he had got used to the idea.

Smiling at the memory, she felt the tears coming… She missed H terribly, but he had passed on a warning – she was sure of it. The CIA were after her, and the merest hint of where she was would mean trouble, better to have split up now, than suffer greater heartache later when she might have to leave without saying goodbye.

Mich was also getting fed up… Fed up with waiting for Ramon to make a move… If he didn't come over the weekend, Sunday night she would go looking for him.

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

Ramon swore. He had been pinned down to his father's estate for most of the week – for fear of being hit, either by the assassin, or the police. However, news was reaching him that yet another of his warehouses had been found through work done by the CSI department of the local PD. Picking up the phone, he called the only person he thought he could trust…

Tim Slater pulled up outside the tradesmen's entrance 20 minutes later. He jumped when someone knocked the passenger window, and quickly let Ramon into the car. "Take me to the office first, there are a couple of things I need to do there, then we have another destination."

Looking at his 'boss' Slater was immediately on the alert… Ramon had lost weight and had a haunted look in his eyes. Saying nothing, he did as he was told, hoping that he would get the opportunity to make a phone call.

At the office, Ramon went through his files, pulling out some, leaving others on the floor. "After you drop me off, come back here, and burn this lot, I don't want anyone getting their hands on this information." Tim nodded, knowing that he would do no such thing. "Good… Let's go."

Stepping into the car, Tim turned pale when Ramon took out his gun and began to check it. He knew then where his 'boss' was going, and for the moment there was nothing he could do about it.

&&&&&

Mich had just ridden back into the barn when she saw the car turn in. Suddenly, an alarm bell started ringing, when she recognised it – and the driver, "Nicky... take Knight and go out the back way… quickly… don't let the people in the car see you, get help."

Nicky did what he was told and headed over the fields toward the nearest house, but it would take him a good 10 minutes to get there, he hoped he wouldn't be too late.

Mich watched carefully from the barn, swearing softly to herself, how was she going to get past two of them? She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Tim Slater get back into the car and leave, "Just me and you Ramon…" Now all she had to do was get back to the house.

Moving carefully through the barn, Ramon checked to make sure there was no-one around. When he reached the back door, he swore, he could just see Nicky in the distance. Pausing, he smiled to himself… The first person to respond would undoubtedly be the Lieutenant.

&&&

Tim was already dialling the number he had memorised a few months earlier, "Lieutenant? This is Tim Slater… Ramon Cruz is at the barn…"

Horatio left his office on the run. Shouting for back-up, he led the way out of the PD and jumped in the Hummer. Eric just made it alongside him. "What's going on H?" As H explained quickly, Eric became worried, Kate had just phoned, she was on her way to the barn too.

&&&

Eric was panicking, he had just tried to call Kate, but her cell wasn't answering. Glancing at his face, Horatio knew exactly what his brother-in-law was going through, and hoped it wouldn't be bad news… for either of them.

&&

Kate was hiding behind her car, just as she had turned in, someone had fired at her, putting a bullet through her windscreen. The glass had broken, and she had been cut, but was ok. Hearing her cell in the car, she wanted to get it, hoping it was Eric, but she was too scared to move.

Mich grinned. Kate's arrival had distracted Ramon just enough to give her time to run to the house. Hearing the gunshot, she chanced a quick look out of the kitchen window and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Kate was relatively ok. At the same moment, Ramon saw the movement and fired again.

Ducking low, Mich made her way upstairs to her room… Opening the bedside drawer, she took out the Glock and magazine and checked them both, before pushing the magazine into position. At the same time, she heard an approaching siren…

Mich swore to herself. H was going to turn up exactly at the wrong time, and make things complicated. Sighing she hoped that Ramon would do something stupid – just to give either her or H a reason to kill him. If Ramon were taken into custody, and then prison, she would never get to him.

Settling down at the top of the stairs, she began to wait….

Ramon was waiting too. He had also heard the siren and smiled... Moving into the living room, he noticed that by placing himself near the door to the kitchen, he could see the reflection of anyone coming in.

&&

Eric sighed with relief when he saw Kate hiding behind her car. Horatio pulled over right next to it, so Eric could step out next to her, before getting out himself and joining them.

"You ok Kate?" Eric was concerned – Kate's face had been scratched badly by glass, but the cuts were superficial and would heal, "Hey Babe… It's ok... I'm here…" Kate clung to him. Not crying, she was made of strong stuff, but she had received a bad shock.

Horatio placed his hand on Kate's shoulder, "How many people are there Kate?"

Looking at H she calmed down as Eric held her close, "Only one… and Mich is in the house too." H told Eric to stay with Kate, and made his way to the back door.

Opening the back door slowly, Horatio winced as it creaked a little. The faint noise warned both Ramon and Mich that someone else was in the house, both reacted differently.

Mich started cursing to herself, but could do nothing about it, she had to wait and see what happened next. Ramon smiled and moved closer to the door. From his position, he could hear H's careful footsteps coming across the kitchen toward him.

Horatio was concerned; the house was too quiet. He couldn't hear anything, yet knew that two people were hiding here. Taking another step forward, he approached the living room…

Ramon spotted Horatio's reflection and smiled… Another footstep and he could see the tip of H's gun on the threshold. He paused, and moved just as H came through the door. Mich heard the sounds of struggle and prayed that she wouldn't hear a gunshot…

Carefully she made her way down the stairs and waited near the living room door, until the sounds had ceased.

Though H was the taller and more experienced of the two men, Ramon had rage and surprise on his side. As the two of them struggled together, both guns were released from hands and sent spinning across the room.

Ramon was the first to recover. "On your knees Lieutenant." Holding the pistol tightly, and pointing it at H's head, Ramon started to chuckle hysterically, "Is this how it was with my brother? But now the tables are turned."

Horatio was white with anger. What a fool he'd been, coming in without back-up. H was not worried about his own safety, but concerned about Mich. Where the hell was she?

Hearing Ramon's voice Mich smiled to herself, knowing how angry H must be at the moment. Staying close to the floor, she chanced a quick look around the door, and saw Ramon with his gun to H's head… She swallowed and started thinking… Her mind made up, she was just about to move when she heard Ramon talking.

"Call your bitch down here Lieutenant, she must be hiding upstairs." H refused, and received a blow to the back of the head, which knocked him down but not out.

Ramon caught him by the throat, putting his gun against H's temple. He was just about to say something when a quiet voice startled him. "Let him go…"

Looking up, both men were stunned. Ramon, because he saw something totally unexpected. A woman with a gun – who seemed to know how to use it, Horatio, because he saw someone he thought he knew, and now realised he didn't… Someone he loved… who had the cold, hard eyes of an assassin.

"I said, let him go…" Mich's voice was cold, emotionless.

Ramon couldn't take his eyes away from Mich, this was not what he had expected. Tightening his grip, he pulled H backwards away from Mich, "Why, what are you going to do about it?"

Mich sighed, why did some men have to be so full of bullshit? That's why she had liked Horatio so much. He just got on with the job he had to do… Seeing him with Ramon's hand around his throat, Mich became angry, but fought to control it, losing her temper would not help H.

Horatio saw the flicker in Mich's eyes and tried to relax. The person he loved was still there. He started to think and smiled to himself. Locking eye contact with Mich, he winked…

Mich could have laughed out loud, talk about role reversal. Taking a deep breath, she flicked off the safety and tightened her grip on the trigger. In that moment, she also heard more sirens.

Ramon heard them too, and swore loudly. Horatio willed himself to be calm; he had to be as still as possible. Mich's mouth had twitched at his wink, and her eyes had come back to life, but he now knew who had killed the Cartel members and who the CIA were looking for.

&&&

Eric was leading Ryan, Frank and Calleigh toward the house when they all heard the single gunshot ring out. Running, Eric was the first inside, and heaved a sigh of relief… Ramon Cruz was dead – a single shot to the temple.

Glancing around, Frank was amazed to see H kneel down to pick up his gun from the far side of the living room, and turned to face Mich, who was standing with her arms by her side, gun in right hand.

As Calleigh entered the room, Mich carefully cleared the gun and removed the magazine from its place, before offering it to her friend, "I think you'll need this…"

Calleigh nodded, curious to know what had happened, but realising that she would probably never find out the true story.

Ryan voiced the question on everyone's lips "What happened Horatio?"

It was Mich who answered, "H was in a struggle with Ramon. I was lucky to get a clear shot…"

Frank looked at her closely, knowing that Mich would not elaborate, "Protecting your home – and assisting a member of the PD… Sounds good to me, but you'll have to give a formal statement."

Mich nodded, "would you mind if I come in on Monday?'

Frank agreed, knowing how busy Mich was. Turning around, he and Calleigh left, followed by Ryan. Eric looked at Mich and H closely, knowing that there was more to the whole story, not just the events of the last half hour or so.

"Is Kate ok Eric?" he nodded, and took the hint, leaving two of his closest friends behind. Mich sighed. It was all over, finally, but for her there would be no happy ending. Someone would find out.

H walked over and held her close. This time Mich did not resist, but H knew it was a final goodbye, after a few minutes, he too left… Accepting the decision that she had made for both of them.