Cauchemar Part 12: Surprise! By koaladeb Disclaimer info in part 1

Calleigh spent the rest of the morning in a lab holed up with Valera. For once, Calleigh didn't mind the girl's attachment, since she herself was not up to making a great deal of conversation. She let Valera chat on, nodding at appropriate moments and making monosyllabic replies while her mind wandered. She hadn't lied to Alexx. When she had started her process of independence she had broken open her heart and begun emptying it of everything she felt for Horatio. In the past two weeks she had held him off, avoided him, and fought with him. Last night's argument had been the worst, though. Just when she thought she was finally getting over him something happened and she was faced with even deeper emotions that had to be purged. Calleigh was sure that she had finally found the last of them, and today she was dealing with the emptiness that was left. When Valera asked her to lunch just after noon, Calleigh decided that some time outside in the sun was definitely in order. She checked out with Claudia at the reception desk and let her police escort know where it was they were going. She was tempted to check in with someone else, but she wasn't up to facing Horatio or Alexx, and the idea of asking Speed or Eric permission to go eat lunch was out of the question. She headed out the door with Valera, waving at Speed across the parking lot.

That afternoon, Horatio headed down to the lab to check with Speed and Eric to see if they had heard back from the Louisiana department store that had contacted them about the robes. They had tracked a large catalogue order that had been shipped somewhere in the Miami area, but were checking their records to pull an exact name and address. When he got to the lab, Speed still hadn't heard anything. Horatio walked to the reception desk himself, asking about messages. Claudia looked at him strangely. She wasn't used to seeing the Lieutenant checking for messages. She fumbled with the stack in front of her. "I remember taking that call," she answered helpfully, still looking for the message and coming up empty. "Oh! I remember. I gave it to that new girl, Valera. She was picking up the mail and offered to take it to Speed herself. Horatio nodded and went to the DNA lab, but Valera was nowhere in sight. He went back to trace.

"Have any of you seen Valera?" he asked. Eric looked up and shook his head. "No, haven't seen her."

"She went to lunch with Calleigh," Speed said, looking up at the clock, "But that was over two hours ago."

Horatio nodded, angry. This was too important for some newbie to screw up delivering a message. "Keep an eye out for her-she took your message. Until then, call the company back and get the address yourself. I'm looking for Calleigh." He needed to talk to her, to see if they could salvage something of their former relationship. He had thought quite a bit about his conversation with Alexx and decided that they were going to have to fix this together.

He looked everywhere for Calleigh. The range, labs, he even went back to the autopsy theater but Alexx hadn't seen her since that morning. He tried calling her cell phone, but got voicemail. He went back to reception. "Have you seen Calleigh Duquesne?" he asked.

Twice in one day.this has got to be the seventh sign of the Apocalypse Claudia thought to herself. "She for lunch with Valera and I haven't seen them since."

Horatio felt a knot of worry begin to form in his stomach but didn't let his concern show. Calleigh didn't take long lunches. "Were you here the whole time?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, oblivious. "I took my break earlier. They haven't come though this way."

Horatio took off for the trace lab, pulling his cell phone out and placing a call on the way. He had dispatch contact Calleigh's escort-she had gone into a restaurant two hours ago and hadn't come out yet. The officer had been waiting in the car-he went in to check while Horatio waited on the phone. He got to trace just as the officer came back on. "She's gone-the manager said he saw the two women going out the back over an hour ago. Ms. Duquesne looked sick-the other one was half-carrying her. They got into a car in the back. Horatio slammed the phone down on a table and swore.

Speed and Eric ran over at Horatio's outburst. He looked up at them and said simply, "She's gone. The manager of the restaurant saw her being helped out by Valera to a car in the back. She was out of it. He's got her, and Valera has something to do with it." Horatio had to stop and gain control of his voice. His heart was beating so fast he felt lightheaded. She was gone, betrayed by someone she trusted, and now Calleigh was in danger. He was going to kill her unless they found him first. He looked up at Speed and Eric, both as shocked and upset as he was. "Here's what we're going to do. Speed, you stay here and get that address. As soon as you have it call me and Eric and I will meet you there. Eric, come with me- we're going to the restaurant."

Speed nodded and Eric grabbed his sunglasses, running to keep up with Horatio as he went out to the parking lot. They got the restaurant inside of ten minutes. Horatio leapt out of the Hummer, going into the restaurant. A waiter directed him to the back door, where the manager was being interviewed by Calleigh's escort. He ripped off his sunglasses and slammed the cop up against the wall. "How could you let her out of your sight?" he demanded, pinning the kid to the wall with the fury in his eyes as well as his arm across his chest.

Eric pulled Horatio off the cop before he could attack further. "Easy, H," he said, "Assaulting a police officer won't help Calleigh."

Horatio nodded and backed off, putting his sunglasses back on to hide the fury in his eyes. He offered a curt apology to the stunned officer and turned to face the restaurant manager. "Tell me what happened and don't leave anything out."

The manager nodded and started to talk, afraid of the man in front of him. "The two ladies came in around noon. They ordered and ate their food, nothing special. The blond lady didn't say much, just seemed to listen to the other one. Next thing I know, the blond lady keels over and her friend throws money down on the table, picks her up, and helps her to the back door. There was a car there, and a guy. They both put your friend in the car and headed off in that direction." He pointed north.

Horatio turned his head, staring at the road behind the building as if he could will its destination into focus. "What kind of car?" he demanded

"Uh.a black SUV. An Explorer I think."

"License plate?"

"Didn't really look, sorry."

Horatio glared over his sunglasses at the man, who took a step back in defense. "That's not good enough. Was it a Florida plate or another state?"

"Florida. That's all I know, man, I swear."

Horatio turned around and headed into the back alleyway. Eric apologized quickly, then turned and followed Horatio. He saw Horatio beside the wall of the restaurant, picking up an empty pill bottle with a pen. "Eric, look at this," he said.

Eric walked over to Horatio, looking at the container. "It's not dirty, so it hasn't been here long. You think someone used a drug to put Calleigh out?"

"Not someone, Valera," Horatio said, spitting out the woman's name like it was some kind of curse. "I want you to grab that poor excuse for a cop in there and take this over to the lab. I want it fingerprinted and analyzed to see what it held. I also want you to pull that woman's file and tell me everything we have on her."

Eric nodded, taking the bottle from Horatio and putting it in an evidence bag. They hadn't seen it coming. Valera? Working with the killer? Well, it would sure explain a couple of things, like Calleigh's hair cut ideas and the switch in plan once the team had started closing in. Also, there was her knowledge of forensics to consider. But how had they missed the fact that their killer had an accomplice? It had never even entered into their minds! He was about to ask Horatio what he would be doing when his phone rang. "Horatio." He listened for a few minutes. "Good. Listen, get in touch with Miami PD. Tell them to put an APB out for a Black Ford Explorer with Florida plates.I know how many there could be in this city and I don't care if they have to impound every last one of them. Calleigh's abductors are driving one and I don't want them getting her outside the city!" Horatio hung up. "Speed's got an address. Go to the lab and get me some information." Eric nodded and walked back indoors, watching Horatio head for the hummer.

Horatio wasn't surprised when he arrived at the address Speed had given to discover that he was less than a mile from Calleigh's place. They had probably been watching her for some time. He met Speed outside and they went in together, the police having already checked the building for occupants. The walked into an area that was designed to be absolutely sterile. There were plastic drapes everywhere, cordoning off different areas of the rented space to allow for a maximum degree of cleanliness. There was an entire area dedicated to wigs, dozens of them spread out and separated by plastic sheets to avoid cross-contamination. Another area held the robes, each hanging in a separate plastic garment bag. The most disturbing area was where Horatio knew the murders took place. A stainless steel table was empty, a horse bridle hanging from one end and weights stacked in a row along the side. A large metal platter rested on the table, large enough to stretch across the body of the victims that had been brought here. Nearby was a table that contained various bottles of chemicals, brushes, and supplies that were used in cleaning the bodies. Along one wall there were several bulletin boards set up in a twisted parody of their own command center. There were maps of the immediate area, tacks showing the location of every beauty salon in the area. Extensive notes gave details about the best locations, security cameras, pedestrian traffic and hours of operation of surrounding businesses. Another board listed every minute detail of Calleigh's life with routine schedules, phone numbers, even a diary of what she wore on a given day. They had documented where she shopped, who she talked to, where she spent every last moment of her time. Horatio felt his heart clench as he saw a picture of Calleigh, her face completely innocent, as she smiled at a child that was walking in front of her. A small bouquet of blue irises sat on the table, the only remaining clue that someone had been there. Looking around the room, Horatio knew that nothing useful would be found here. The place was too cold, too methodical. This is where their precise serial killer worked. The fate they were planning for Calleigh was personal, not detached. They might have planned from here, but their obsession would lead them to find a more personal location to conclude their sick plan. He left Speed at the warehouse with several others to process the scene, but Horatio headed back outside, dialing Eric as he approached his car. "You got an address for me? Good, meet me there." Horatio leaned against the door for a moment, tasting fear in his mouth. What if he didn't find her in time? The image of Calleigh smiling flashed before his eyes. He couldn't bear to think about what his life would be like if she were no longer in it, if he failed her when she needed him the most. Her words from the previous night haunted him. "You were my rock and suddenly you were unavailable.You hurt me Horatio.You lost me weeks ago, you just didn't care enough to see it." Horatio fought tears back. He wouldn't let those be the last words she ever said to him.

Calleigh began to come awake and found herself in the back of an SUV as it drove swiftly down the road. Her hands and feet were bound, not that she could have done much-her head was killing her. The last thing she remembered was sitting with Valera in the restaurant and feeling sick. She attempted to clear the cobwebs from her mind as the car came to a stop and she heard two doors close. She was hauled out of the car by her feat, falling to the ground in a heap. She heard a laugh that chilled her to the soul. She looked up into the empty eyes of the man she knew was Trevor Wilson. He smiled. "Glad to see you've decided to join us," he said, laughing at her fear. She saw Valera come to stand beside him, cruelty in her eyes and a look of cold triumph on her face. She looked like a different person. Behind them she could see a small, dirty cabin with nothing around it except miles of swamps. Trevor prodded her with his foot to regain her attention. "We've been preparing this place a long time," he said. "Allow us to extend our hospitality to you."