Cassandra knew that life with a cop could be a mess- their shifts were unpredictable, unscheduled overtime arriving when a crime spree happened, quiet days were non-existent and sudden callouts came based upon new cases linking up with old ones. Juggling her schedule with Horatio's hectic one was a challenge by itself but throwing Rick, Natalia and sometimes Tobias' into it as well as Cassandra tried to ensure child care for Marissa, Annabelle, and Tobias' three children when she could just caused a chaos that she tried to maintain rather than calm.
This morning she thought she had things all organised for a rare change, getting Marissa to her doctor's appointment and school as scheduled with a break from Annabelle as she was sick at home being minded by Natalia. However, it didn't take long before work decided to throw her a curve ball and upend her scheduled day.
Cassandra stared at her supervisor with a barely held calm as she tried to keep her budding annoyance from her face. "What do you mean schedule error?" she demanded.
The bright morning was already warm and promising to be another delightfully hot day in Miami. Here in the shade of the underwater viewing sector for the sea lions was usually one of Cassandra's favourite places to be at work but right now she was in too much of a temper to enjoy the relief of the shade or the soothing effect of the sea lions swimming by.
Cassandra's supervisor- a thirty-something, tall, pale brown haired man called Glenn, regarded her in exasperation.
"Cassie, Mike had you down for tomorrow, it was a mix up, alright."
"I don't want to go there and you know why."
Cassandra pushed up her turquoise cap slightly before adjusting the yellow rimmed visor. Cassandra liked her uniform overall, a shorts and t-shirt combo, it appealed to her inner beach girl and she loved the oceanic turquoise and sunshine yellow colour combination plus the cartoon animals on the t-shirt were adorable and the cap was both useful for the sun and to help hide the scars on her face.
"Sure Cassie," Glenn retorted dismissively, "but I haven't got a lot of options here." He glanced down at the clip board he had in his left hand and ran a finger down the list attached there. "I've already got Rhonda covering the sea lions so you have to go cover the shark tower. Mike messed up, there's no cover there and we need it."
Cassandra couldn't hide her displeasure from her face as she tensed up at this. She had once been attacked in the shark tower by someone with a grudge against Horatio and had earned a painful scar on the back of her neck for her troubles. Her right hand reached up instinctively to rub at the scar as she looked at Glenn appealingly.
"Is there nowhere else?" Cassandra pleaded.
Glenn shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "Go do the shark tower Cassie. You're paid to work in the entire aquarium not just parts of it," he added scornfully.
Glenn grabbed a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on the clipboard before he walked off.
Cassandra let out a string of muttered curses before glancing to the sea lion viewing tank with woe. "Gonna miss you guys today," she muttered as two dark shapes streaked past.
She was already considering the day a mixed bag. She had gotten Marissa to her appointment fine and it had been positive, although there was a change in medication and another test to schedule and so much paperwork the blonde had stressed a little about signing the wrong thing or giving the wrong information. She knew she would have to ask Rick to check over it if he could but her stubborn side was reluctant to show that she had concerns over her own actions today.
Cassandra headed for the shark tower slowly. It was the central feature of the aquarium, a forbidding looking tower block from the outside, within it was a spiral of a giant tank of sharks divided into layers only on the inside. Cassandra hated it because it felt less like the sharks were the contained creatures on display and more like the visitors trapped within the tower of glass and water were.
She had to make herself smile as she walked, well aware that she was representing the aquarium as she strode past visitors in her uniform. Some barely noticed her, some men ogled her butt in her shorts and one even let out a low whistle at her tanned legs and then there were the gawkers of course. In her youth it had been because of her slender, sun kissed figure but now, even though she had still managed to maintain her enviable beach body to a degree, people gawked at it less, never noticing it because their gazes rarely drifted below her face. The pink slices of wounded flesh down her eyes took all the attention, scars left by a man who bore the same surname as her, a psychotic murderer who had left her scarred physically and mentally and ensured that she would always bear the reminder on her face and that people would always be able to look and know who she was.
Cassandra twisted her free strands of blonde hair about as she walked, flicking hair back and forth as she tried to add some coverage to her scars. The one on the back of her neck was concealed but starting to itch now. A cigar burn, it wasn't as bad as the ones at the front but as another reminder of her weakness she loathed it just as much.
She reached the shark tower and entered through the double doors on the bottom, bypassing the eager queues. It was always a big draw with the crowds, anything to do with sharks usually was. Cassandra didn't get it, much as she loved the ocean she hated sharks. Their eyes were soulless and all they did was swim and eat, they were murderous machines and had no playfulness or hint of personality in them like seals and seal lions, or the otters she loved to go and spoil with fish.
She tensed as the shadow of a sand tiger shark covered her briefly before the beast vanished into the gloom of the water.
Cassandra walked up a level, treading on soft, grey carpet past some softly cooing observers. She tensed as she saw a man lingering ahead before he turned to snap a picture of a shark on his phone. Just a harmless visitor. She sucked in a breath as she started to rub the back of her neck. She remembered her face being forced against the glass as her arm was twisted behind her back, and she remembered the sudden feeling of vulnerability and the fear of what her captor would and could do. It could have been worse, she knew that and it made her terrified to think if it had been she would have been powerless to stop it.
Her breath slipped out and she made herself continue on. Her job here always felt unsecure because of incidents like that, thrown in with the fact that she didn't have a 'visitor pleasing face', not that her boss would actually say it outright lest he risk a lawsuit but she knew he thought it, everyone did. She rubbed harder at her neck, turning the flesh red with the pressure. Back and front she was marked, back and front she was scarred, there was no escaping it.
Cassandra felt eyes upon her again, two teenaged girls were openly staring at her with wide eyes as they muttered excitedly to each other. They had their backs to the glass, unconcerned with the predator swimming behind them.
Cassandra felt anger budding up within her as she realised, to them, she was the star attraction.
Figuring she could either give in or get on with it, she made herself smile brightly back to them and even offered a wave as she tried to banish the infamous Stetler temper she carried. She was engaged and Natalia had suggested she call by after work if Annabelle was feeling better and they could start talking wedding plans. Tobias had also offered a lunch date if their schedules permitted it as a thanks for helping with his three children. Today would be a good day even if Cassandra had to force happiness into it.
Senator Watkins was running late. This annoyed Rick more than Horatio but that wasn't surprising. The pair had scheduled and rescheduled their meeting with the man, the time and the location ever changing as the senator's various assistants tried to fit the police in. It served to lower both Rick and Horatio's opinions of the man but as their questions were at the moment out of curiosity and not obligatory, they could not force the senator's hand.
It was now just after six in the evening and they were in the heart of Miami pulling up to a tall row of glittering tower blocks where Senator Watkins' office away from the office dwelled. Why the senator had suddenly decided he didn't want the lieutenants in his house they didn't know. It was irritating considering they would have liked to have questioned his wife and son too. The idea was to get a background on Kara and query if she had a potential relationship with Benjamin, by meeting with only the senator they would be getting limited answers. Horatio reasoned that something was better than nothing but Rick felt their time had already been wasted with constant time and location changes today.
Horatio did feel Rick's irritation, he had to ring Kyle to cancel their dinner plans and then he had to ring Cassandra to advise of the same. All had at least been well in the blonde's world- she had gotten Marissa to her doctor's appointment and school as scheduled, had lunch with Tobias and then gotten Marissa from school and back home. She had mentioning staying for a while with Natalia to discuss wedding plans.
Horatio had been a little irked to hear of her lunch with Tobias, it was a silly envy in him and he knew it but it was one he couldn't help. Tobias had been Cassandra's high school boyfriend, her prom date who she had planned to move in with until he had changed plans, opting to stay at home to save on money while he trained to be a cop. Ruining Cassandra's chance to escape Garrett House and choosing a profession she had despised, had led to Cassandra and Tobias falling out of each other's lives. It had lasted until a case had drawn Tobias and Rick together and brought Tobias, now a widower with three children, back into Cassandra's world. Now they were just friends and Cassandra was another babysitter for the widowed detective to have, which he delighted in. It was innocent and Horatio knew it and he had no desire to interfere with the relationship but he also knew that every now and then Tobias would glance at Cassandra at play with his children and know what he had lost.
Horatio and Rick had ended up sharing a car to the senator's Miami base, meeting at the labs as Rick had dropped Ryan off there. There had been a brief bicker between the pair over who was driving before Rick had finally relented and let Horatio drive. Rick had been vocal about the hummer being over the top but even he appreciated the room within it.
They got out of the car to a typical sunny Miami afternoon and headed up to the entrance of the building. A modern tower block that glittered with polished mirror images of the sun, it was where Senator Watkins' had run his campaign from. The senator kept the office space simply because he could.
Senator or not, for someone who had just lost his daughter in the form of a horrific murder he didn't seem to be slowing in his work role. When one would have expected him to take time to be in Miami with his family he instead seemed to be making every effort to throw himself into his role at Washington and had made it clear that he didn't like being bound to Miami by this latest meeting with Rick and Horatio.
Rick tapped at the gold shield fastened to his belt as he met the curious gaze of the security guard. Rick bore a frown and a weary stare in his dark brown eyes that suggested explaining his presence to the guard was too much effort on his part.
This day had gone on too long as far as Rick was concerned, starting with a fresh body, having a defensive detective in the centre and now a self-important senator at the end of it, Rick knew he'd lose his temper with anyone soon. He just wanted to head home to see that Annabelle was as well as Natalia assured him and to hear from Marissa that the doctor's appointment had been alright.
The guard was middle aged, tall with a wide chest and muscular arms. He wore a pair of sunglasses out of necessity as he stood facing the early evening sun and was dressed in a bland brown uniform that suggested he was on hire from an agency.
"Good evening," Horatio greeted politely. "We're here to see Senator Watkins."
The guard nodded. "Can I see some identification?" he quipped.
Rick frowned even as he reached for his wallet and presented his I.D.
Horatio was a little more courteous as he pulled out his own and gave the guard a little more time to read it than Rick did before he put it away.
The guard nodded again. "Go and head on in."
"Thanks," Rick grumbled sardonically.
"Fourth floor," the guard added. His tone was dull, matching his bland expression.
Horatio wondered briefly if the man had a practised poker face or was perfectly disinterested in him and Rick.
"Thanks," Horatio said politely.
The lieutenants headed into the building where they met another security guard and the expected metal detector. Rick only just resisted rolling his eyes, accepting that it was protocol. The entire building was government owned although the homicide lieutenant wasn't too sure who or what was on the floors other than the fourth.
The cops surrendered their weapons for a brief moment of vulnerability before they went through the metal detector briskly. Government security always acted like they trumped regular cops, it was an attitude that frequently got on Rick's nerves given that they were all government employees in the end, it was just that some were closer to Washington than others.
Security check done, Rick and Horatio headed through to the lobby. It was spacious and flooded with light from a large set of heavy windows that looked like they were bullet proof. There was the standard set of modern looking chairs for waiting in accompanied by a glass and white wooden coffee table, a water cooler and a few lively looking potted plants. There was also the large, curved, white desk where a male receptionist sat on duty.
Horatio explained their presence to the receptionist briefly before they were directed on to the elevators.
They were escorted up in the elevator by a chirpy assistant who seemed more suitable for being a bellboy in a hotel. The elevator itself had bronze mirror walls, which created an unsettling effect of endless reflections, and bored them with soft, classical music.
"I told Eric," Horatio informed Rick as the elevator drifted up past the first floor.
"Good, since you're not bruised I assume he took it well," Rick retorted sardonically. He stared at his reflection with a frown, the bronze was making his tie appear even uglier than it was.
Horatio dipped his head to hide his small smile. "Well enough."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Horatio glanced at Rick out of the corner of his blue eyes and knew that Rick had used up his patience for the day. Ryan had made murmurings about it when he had entered the lab, advising Horatio to be careful asking about Bill McCoy.
"It means, Rick, that Eric is not entirely happy about it, which one would not expect him to be but he is quite ready to give it a chance."
"Give it a chance?" Rick sneered. "He's not the one getting married." He turned to face Horatio directly with a frown. "You're making it sound sordid like Eric's going to be part of this marriage."
Horatio sighed and wondered why he had only considered Eric to be the obstacle, of course Rick was going to be an awkward pain in the ass too.
"Eric was Marisol's brother," he reminded Rick delicately, "and therefore my brother-in-law and he means a lot to me, you know that. I don't want Eric to feel displaced by you Rick or that I am displacing Marisol with Cassandra because that's not how it is."
"God Horatio, you're making this sound like a soap opera. I have no intentions of replacing Delko."
"I know that Rick but you will be my brother-in-law when Cassandra and I marry and I would like for you and Eric to use our marriage as a chance for you two to attempt to forge a new bond."
Rick sneered at this. "Yep, a soap opera, stop watching those."
Horatio frowned this time as the lift doors parted for them at the fourth floor.
"Rick, I've asked Eric to give you and Cassandra a chance, please do the same for him."
Rick started walking briskly. "Delko would sooner play nice with a serial killer than me but fine."
Horatio was saved from responding as another guard greeted them before they were finally permitted entry to the senator's almost abandoned office space. It was there that the final staff member greeted them in a small waiting area.
Rick felt an odd jolt in his chest as a woman stepped through a heavy set blue door into the quaint waiting area. He could not hide the shock from his face as his dark eyes roamed up and down her in disbelief.
The woman's gaze was down on a handful of forms in her right arm as she flipped through their headings with her left hand.
"Good afternoon," she greeted coolly to her paperwork, "Lieutenant Caine wasn't it?"
"And Lieutenant Stetler," Horatio informed her helpfully when Rick failed to add the correction.
Horatio was looking to Rick, wondering at the shock on the man's face.
The woman froze up at the name, halting as she turned her head up sharply at the same time. Shock filled her face as her vibrant, warm, hazel eyes fixed upon Rick.
"I...I didn't know," she said quietly. Her arm dropped by her side to cradle the notes in her hand and wrist.
"Me either," Rick muttered.
"Who are you ma'am and where is the senator?" Horatio pried.
The redhead felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere as a tension began to escalate in the waiting room. He couldn't tell what emotions were between Rick and this as yet unknown woman save for shock. He didn't think it was a glad shock or a welcome reunion between them but he couldn't outright assume it was bad either.
"Catorina Sanchez," she answered automatically. Although her response was for Horatio her stare remained fixed upon Rick. "The senator is on his way," she explained. "I was asked to meet you here in the meantime, a somewhat vague message from his aide," she added calmly with only a hint of annoyance, "I guess he forgot to say you were both coming."
Horatio resisted the urge to nod, it was pointless when the woman wasn't really paying him much attention.
"Well things did change a lot today," he murmured quietly.
"I've seen you a lot on the television Rick, how've you been?" the woman queried politely.
Rick bristled slightly. His right hand was already at the knot of his tie working it loose and wrinkling up the red squares patterning it. He hated the tie, more so since Bill had critiqued it but Annabelle had helped Natalia pick it out for him today apparently so he had to comply with wearing it even though it clashed horrifically with his blue shirt.
"Fine," Rick responded bluntly. "And you?"
"Good."
The woman glanced about awkwardly before stepping forward to the ornamental coffee table of stones trapped beneath glass and depositing her paperwork there. She took a moment longer than necessary to stare down at the paperwork as she shuffled it into place with her perfectly manicured, polished pink nails. When she rose, she made herself look from Rick to Horatio.
The CSI lieutenant had been studying her discreetly as he wondered at who she was to Rick. He knew he had heard the name Catorina before but it wasn't exactly uncommon and he couldn't be sure he had heard it in connection to Rick. She was a lovely woman somewhere in her forties he supposed. Her face was a naturally appealing burnished beige with her curly, dyed brunette and honey streaked locks teased up above it into a flattering bun. Nothing about her was familiar to Horatio, she was in a similar age group to himself and Rick, give or take a few years and wrinkles, but that was the only connection he could grasp for now.
"Please," she said suddenly with a forced smile, "take a seat, the senator really won't be much longer."
She gestured to the comfortable looking couch before the coffee table with one hand before retreating to the door she had come from. With her back to them, she hurried to key in the pin code, muttering a curse when it declined her once before granting her escape.
When she was gone Rick all but collapsed to the couch. He pushed his hands up through his scalp and shook his head wearily.
"Rick, how do you know Ms Sanchez?" Horatio pried softly. He figured it was better getting straight to the point.
"We were married," Rick grumbled before he lowered his hands to rest on his thighs. He dug his nails into his black trousers and wrinkled them. "Years ago, I was twenty-two, it lasted all of five years, longer than my first marriage mind," he added bitterly.
Suddenly all the pieces came together for Horatio. It was a revelation Cassandra had told him, Rick's second marriage had been love at first sight, ruined thanks to Balthasar Garrett in a roundabout way. Balthasar had seen Cassandra in her dancing job when she was just twenty-one, he had made her dance for him and terrorised her in the effort. Scared, she had gone crying to a then twenty-seven-year-old Rick after and he had headed to Balthasar in a blind rage. The problem was Balthasar, a former boxer, was ready for his angry stepson, probably expecting him, and had beaten him to the point of him being hospitalised. The stress of it all had caused Rick's then wife, Catorina, to miscarry according to Cassandra. Worse, after she had divorced Rick she had sued for the trauma, a lawsuit Balthasar had passed on to Rick. It was a payment Rick had been keeping up until only very recently when just over a year ago Horatio had gotten a lawyer to help Rick get the payments ended.
"Is this going to be a problem?" Horatio queried calmly.
Rick frowned up at him. He got it, they were on the job, Rick couldn't get personal over this and if their roles had been reversed Rick probably would have been even blunter about it but knowing that didn't stop him being pissed at Horatio anyway.
"No," Rick responded bluntly.
Rick could feel a headache beginning at his brow, so much for concluding the day with a self-absorbed senator, now there was an ex-wife as well. He forbade himself from pondering what else this day could plague him with as he reached one hand to the knot of his tie and the other to his brow.
Horatio let a silence fill the room but after ten minutes it became uncomfortable. Ten minutes more and the senator finally arrived.
Senator Tom Watkins entered the room hastily through the same main door Horatio and Rick had, alone and looking impatient.
Catorina appeared through the blue door as if on cue, her brown stare solely for the senator. She was turned towards him, calm although worry started to fill her gaze at the senator's agitated state.
"Senator, can I get you anything?" she quipped.
He glanced over to her and shook his head. "No, thanks Catorina," he retorted warmly. His pale blue gaze drifted over to the lieutenants. "Gentlemen, I'm sure Catorina has already asked but do you need anything?"
"No, thanks," Horatio answered for them.
Tom nodded and glanced back to Catorina. "Thanks for being here to help," he said in a quiet gratitude. "You can wait next door, I'll let you know when we're done."
She nodded back briskly as she held the senator's gaze. A fleeting suggestion of a smile passed her glossed lips before she departed back through the blue door without a word to the lieutenants.
Horatio glanced over at Rick and wasn't surprised to see the man squeezing at the knot of his tie with his right hand. He nudged him lightly causing the man to tense up before his hand dropped away from the tie.
The senator occupied the single couch to the left of the two seater they shared, putting him closest to Rick. He crossed one leg over the other, rested his hands on the arms of the chair and looked at the lieutenants with exasperation.
"Well lieutenants, what is it I can help you with?" he queried.
"Senator there have been a few developments," Horatio explained. "The blood found on Kara was not hers. It belongs to Benjamin Bracker, a teenager who was presumed-"
Tom held up a hand in protest with an agitated look. "I know that name," he growled out. "Murdered five years ago by his brother. Why and how in the hell would his blood be on my daughter?"
Horatio, still calm despite the interruption, answered, "we don't know, that's what we are trying to find out."
"Your daughter was the same age as Benjamin and at his school," Rick pointed out bluntly, "were they acquainted?"
Tom bristled at the question as his mouth twisted up in a snarl. "He was a bad kid, family might've had money but they had no class."
"That doesn't answer the question," Rick retorted as he gave the senator a level stare.
Tom shrugged. "I suppose not. I asked her not to but Kara liked pushing boundaries even then. There was a group of them, Kara, Ben, three or four others, thick as thieves all through school until Benjamin's family had that massacre."
"Did you know Benjamin's family at all?" Horatio queried curiously.
Tom's frosty stare was back on the redhead. "New money not old, Hunter had a small business and it grew, and he was good in the stock market, I think he'd something to do with horses, I forget what. We weren't in the same circles," he added flatly.
Rick nodded at this, thinking of his stepfather Balthasar Garrett, he'd been old money too, born into wealth and selfishness but then he'd lost it all and bought his way back in drugs trading, a crime that had gotten him killed and hadn't been exposed until his death. Senator Watkins' same snobby attitude was making Rick lose sympathy for him rapidly.
"Could we have the names of Kara and Benjamin's friends?" Rick asked.
Tom pulled a face of irritation. "Really? Lieutenant...Stender was it?"
"Stetler," Rick corrected quickly, only just keeping the ire from his voice.
"Right, this was over five years ago, I don't remember them, I couldn't even name all of Kara's friends now."
"Would anyone else in the family remember?" Horatio queried calmly, determined to stay the tranquil ying to Rick's hostile yang.
"I doubt it," the senator murmured.
"Senator, we're trying to find out who murdered your daughter, you need to start helping us with our questions," Rick said bluntly.
Tom frowned over at the man but he didn't reply. He considered the statement as his cold gaze darted between the pair. "My wife is...not in a state for questions," he explained awkwardly. "Kara's death has hit her hard."
"We can be discrete," Horatio offered. He was suspicious of the senator's real meaning.
The very few times Lydia Watkins had been seen publicly since her daughter's demise she had always been under some sort of influence, a cocktail of medication and alcohol judging from the odour her perfumes couldn't cover, the slur of words in a Cajun accent, and a stare with a filmy blur to it. Yet she wore her addiction in such a fashion, still standing tall as she stumbled a little and always with an elegant move to her hips as she crossed from one area to another, that there was a suggestion that her influences were not newly acquired in her grief. A grief that seemed put on better when she was in public, always ready with her black sun hat and designer sunglasses to express her mourning.
Tom stared back at Horatio curiously, uncertain of the redhead's meaning.
"Senator for the sake of your daughter we have to ask these questions, she was found with Benjamin Bracker's blood on her five years after his presumed death and you have confirmed for us that they were friends," Horatio summarised. "It is unlikely to be a coincidence and we need to know more. If there's a chance your wife can better recall these friends then we should speak with her. The better we know Kara, the better we might learn who killed her."
Tom raised a hand to his brow as he turned his gaze away from the lieutenants and to the reception space.
"So it wasn't just some random psychopath in the night then," he grumbled.
"It's unlikely," Horatio answered.
Horatio glanced to Rick, they had decided earlier that if one of them figured telling the senator about the latest John Doe was a good move then they would signal to the other by tapping their watch. A returned tapping of the watch would confirm they were in agreement of the decision. Horatio was undecided, advising the senator that another body had turned up made it less personal to Kara but informing him that Benjamin Bracker's blood was on this body too might hammer home to the senator the need to reveal whatever he could about the Bracker family.
Tom lowered his hand and turned his stare upon Rick. His gaze lingered on the man's wrinkled tie for a few seconds, turning scornful as he took in the untidy state of it.
Rick let his ire fill his dark gaze as he picked up on the man's dismissive opinion of him. He wasn't impressed, Horatio wasn't even wearing a tie so why was Rick getting the side-eye?
"Lieutenant Stetler have you no leads at all?" Tom queried.
"No," Rick answered bluntly, "and if we don't learn more about Kara we might never."
Tom's gaze narrowed. "Alright, I take your meaning. There are probably photos in her room. Some remnants of high school. You know, after that boy's murder she didn't talk about those friends much," Tom added defensively, "she was trying to distance herself from the pain and the violence."
Rick nodded empathetically. "It's hard to forget if someone keeps reminding you," he said with an icy calm.
Tom glanced at the expensive looking gold watch on his wrist. "Can we reschedule?" he queried. "At my house, and you can speak with my family about Ben and Kara, and my staff too if you think it will help. Catorina has been with me for six years," he said with a fond smile, "she might even remember him. It would've been during the campaign," he recalled wistfully as he uncrossed his legs, "Kara would've brought her friends to the house while I was in the middle of speech writing, such a distraction."
Sorrow crossed the senator's face as he shook it and touched his brow again. "I would welcome such silly distractions now, she was a rebel but aren't all kids at that age." His stare was on Rick again. "You said you'd kids didn't you lieutenant? Girls?"
"Two," Rick answered, "I'm their guardian, my niece Marissa, and Annabelle, I'm fostering her."
Tom nodded sombrely as he leaned forward, putting himself closer to Rick. "Keep them close lieutenant because in a blink they're suddenly just gone."
Rick glanced to Horatio and tapped his watch.
Horatio tapped his watch too, he knew why Rick had decided to play their hand, when the news came out about the body the senator might not be so willing to have them in his house if he thought they had held back on him.
Horatio waited for Rick to speak but Rick was silent.
"Senator, there's something else," Horatio began.
Tom looked to Horatio wearily. "Yes?"
"We found another body today," Horatio admitted, still calm as he spoke, "a man we have yet to identify. He had blood on him and our labs have confirmed it has come from Benjamin Bracker as well."
The senator's pale eyes went wide with shock and disgust. "What in the hell is going on?" he demanded.
"We don't know yet," Rick admitted. "We haven't identified the man."
"So when you say you might not learn anything without knowing more about Kara, that could be rubbish? This could just be some maniac targeting random people."
Rick fixed a serious stare upon the senator. "Your daughter knew Benjamin Bracker and his blood was found on her, do you think it's random?"
Tom stiffened and stood up, head bowed to the floor as he studied it silently.
Horatio wondered if Tom was considering a confession as he looked to the floor and considered sardonically how one usually looked up for salvation and guidance not down.
"It's your job to figure that out, isn't it?" Tom snapped sullenly at last with a glare down to Rick.
Rick stood up putting Tom back in his shadow and Horatio stood too.
"We still need to talk to your family," Rick advised.
"Thank you for your time," Horatio said, although he only half meant it. The senator had largely wasted their time.
"Yes, I'll get Catorina," Tom murmured, "she will reschedule us," he tacked on with another hostile look to Rick.
Tom headed for the door Catorina had disappeared through. He keyed in the code, opened it and called for her.
Catorina appeared quickly, suggesting she had always just been waiting for his call rather than actually working.
"Senator?" she queried.
Tom gestured to Horatio and Rick with one hand without bothering to look their way.
"Catorina I need to meet with these two again but at my house, with my wife, can you set it up? Oh and they might have questions for you too and the other staff members."
Catorina couldn't hide the surprise from her face at the suggestion. "Questions?"
Tom nodded. "About Kara and her friends." His voice was quiet and full of woe and he looked tired as he stood between Catorina and the men, unable to focus on either.
Catorina's stare jumped to Rick, both curious and suspicious. "Right, well I'll get your diary and set it up then," she offered.
It was close to eight when Rick and Horatio finally arrived at Rick's home. They entered to find an atmosphere cheerful and warm. Natalia and Cassandra were in the kitchen, seated at the dining table listening to music, sharing wine and giggling over several open, glossy magazines depicting wedding dresses and venues.
At the arrival of the men, the women both fell silent and glanced up inquisitively.
Horatio tried to appear happy but it didn't matter because Rick was sullen and making no effort to hide it.
The dark haired man yanked at his tie with a scowl, tugging it sharply twice before getting the knot loose enough so he could pull it over his head.
"Good day then?" Cassandra chirped with a hint of sarcasm to her voice.
She was still in her uniform, having gone straight from work to Marissa's school and then from there to here.
"No," Rick snapped as he tossed the tie to one side as if it were a snake. It landed in a wrinkled heap on the top of a workbench.
Rick reached for his pale brown jacket next, cursing as he fumbled with the buttons. His head was pounding and he was finding it hard to focus, his brow felt like it was aflame and the lights and music in the kitchen were starting to irritate his senses. He abandoned the buttons of the jacket and stomped over to the radio before flicking it off at the wall.
"Damn racket."
"What the hell crawled up your ass today?" Cassandra demanded.
"Cassie it's been a long day," Horatio retorted quietly as he gave her a slightly chiding look.
Horatio tried not to wade into the squabbles between Cassandra and Rick unless he felt they were severe enough to warrant it as usually the result was them turning their rage on him instead but he felt Rick deserved a break this time, the man had just encountered his ex-wife without warning after all.
Natalie stood up from the table and walked over to Rick. She reached up her hands gently to his shoulders but he shrugged her off. Natalia frowned and folded her arms.
"Rick, honey, I get you're having a bad day but we all get them," she reminded him. "What's happened?"
Rick shook his head before wincing with the pain the gesture caused him. "I've got a headache," he complained, "that's all."
Rick headed for the medication cupboard whilst Natalia headed for the glasses. She reached one down, filled it up with cold water from the outlet at the fridge and then held it out to Rick with a scornful look as she caught him ready to dry swallow the two painkillers he'd reached down.
"Horatio what happened?" Cassandra pried quietly as she looked from Rick to Horatio with mild concern.
"There was another body found this morning," Horatio admitted.
Cassandra's dark eyes budded with suspicion as she knew the redhead was holding back on something.
"How are the girls?" Rick queried as he lowered the half-drained glass of water.
"They're fine," Natalia assured him. "Annabelle has been good all day so she should be fine going back to school. They're both in bed."
Rick nodded even as he turned and paced away from Natalia. His mind was buzzing, a hundred thoughts raced it, each one hitting his skull with a very real and painful thump. Catorina kept zipping through without warning- Catorina this evening avoiding looking at him whilst giving the senator some curious gazes, aged sure but not as badly as he had, still beautiful, still with a spark in her eyes, he saw those same eyes soaked with tears and full of rage as she looked to him from a hospital bed he'd been paying for, for years, shrieking at him that the baby was dead, screaming at him even though he was covered in bruises, limping and still not released from a ward in the same hospital.
Rick reached his hand up to his removed tie and grasped at his shirt collar instead. Agitated, he paced towards the back door.
"I need air, alone," he grumbled as he halted at the door and tried again to remove his jacket.
When Rick flung the offending article of clothing to the ground and stormed outside, Natalia gestured her hands outwards in anger and frowned.
"What in the hell was that all about?" Natalia demanded as the door closed and she rounded on Horatio with an accusing stare.
The redhead retained a look of empty eyed calm although it was difficult as he felt his own temper rising. If Rick didn't want questions he should have tried subtlety.
"There was a body found at the beach," he explained, "and it's connected to the Kara Watkins' case."
"Right but that doesn't explain that," Natalia retorted as she gestured to the patio doors with one hand.
"It's been a long day," Horatio murmured.
"And Rick has a temper at the best of times," Cassandra added as she looked to the patio doors.
The blonde stood upright, pausing to smooth down her turquoise shorts. She grabbed her half-full wine glass and headed for the doors.
Horatio didn't bother protesting, he knew there was no point. At least if the siblings got into it, it would be outside.
"I'll make some coffee," Natalia remarked. "Do you want a cup Horatio?"
The redhead nodded as he occupied a seat at the table.
Natalia hastened over to him and immediately swept the magazines over to one side hastily. "No, you're not peeking at those!"
"I wasn't going to," Horatio insisted.
"Maybe not intentionally but even an accidental look could prove fatal."
"Fatal?"
"Well you know, not fatal," Natalia retorted awkwardly as she closed over several of the magazines, "but upsetting and frustrating. It's a girl thing."
"Right."
Horatio glanced to the abandoned tie on the couch. "Natalia, has she mentioned what she wants the groom's party to wear? Ties? Bowties? Colours?"
Natalia wagged a scornful finger at him. "I won't tell you."
Horatio gave a small grin at this and knew better than protesting.
Outside, Cassandra found Rick seated on a patio chair with both his hands burrowed in his dark hair as he sat hunched forward and frowning.
"Is it that bad?" she quipped.
Rick turned to her with a frown, the anger in his eyes growing as he eyed the wine glass in her hand. "Did you not hear me say I was going outside alone?"
"I did, I just didn't care," she answered carelessly as she stared ahead to the small garden.
It was quiet outside and growing darker by the minute as dusk took over from sunset casting the garden in low shadows of blue.
"You're being more of a prick than the norm, what happened?"
Rick continued to scowl as he leaned back in the seat. "Why can't I have time alone to think it through?"
Cassandra took on a serious tone as she responded. "Because you and I have had too much of that before Rick, it doesn't help us."
She took a sip from her glass before stepping up to him. "Come on, talk to me about it, I had people gawking at me today like I was the exhibit they'd paid to see," she commented bitterly before taking another sip. "Was it that bad?"
Rick sighed, knowing Cassandra wasn't going to let it go. He lowered his hands and glanced up at her, angered by her words as he imagined people staring at the scars that streaked down her eyes. No matter how old they got she was always going to be his little sister and he couldn't subdue the urge to protect her from the assholes of the world. He didn't want to tell her about Catorina, he knew she felt responsible for that mess and he didn't want to dredge up that guilt for her.
Rick remembered a younger version of Catorina, the fresh faced woman he had fallen head over heels for, young, smart, beautiful and his but just for five years. Cassandra had adored her too, Catorina had been kind to her until the tragedy, a rare female friend for Cassandra to talk to when she was seeking respite from the Garrett household.
"Rick what was it?"
Cassandra was staring down at him with worry now, concerned by his silence and the serious gaze he was giving her.
"It was Catorina," he admitted wearily as he felt fresh pangs stab through his brow. "She works for Senator Tom Watkins and we had to talk with him today, she was there."
Cassandra's face screwed up with confusion briefly before realisation took over and her mouth parted slightly. She was still for a moment before lifting her glass and gulping down the contents.
Rick's mouth twitched as a grin almost slipped through at Cassandra's almost comical turning to the wine for support.
"Oh shit," she muttered.
"Oh shit is right," Rick confirmed.