Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, including Tim Speedle (sigh), but hey, a girl can dream can't she?

Rating: We'll start out with PG-13 for now.

Pairings: Speed/OC (Jennifer), Horatio/Calleigh, and maybe we'll give Eric a little love this time!

Summary: Speed's wife is kidnapped and all the clues lead to a case Speed and John Hagen worked on early in their careers.

Author's Note - I almost feel like I'm making Speed cheat between two women right now! However, my brain hurts and I desperately need a break from the serial killer in Love Lost Returned. This story has been in my head for a few days now, and if I don't get fingers to keyboard - I'll forget it all!

Chapter 4

Tim and John sat in Horatio's office, stunned into complete silence a letter from Jennifer's captor delivered by messenger only minutes before.

"Why are there no demands, Horatio?" Tim begged to know. "What does this guy want?"

Horatio shook his head. "You read the letter Tim. He just wants you to know he's gotten even with you."

"For WHAT?" he wailed, jumping up from his chair, he began pacing the floor.

"I've got it," Calleigh said, coming through the door with a thick manila folder. "Travis Haley, age 23 at the time of his arrest five years ago. Originally investigated by John as a meth cook and dealer. When John and another patrol office went to arrest Travis, they found his wife Lisa dead from a single gunshot wound to the temple."

Tim shook his head. "I remember that case now. Guy swore he didn't know what happened, but his fingerprints were all over the gun."

"Happens sometimes when you're tweaked," John explained. "Total memory lapses."

Tim's cell phone rang and he took it from his hip, "Yeah, it's Speed. Hey, Julie," he said after Julie identified herself.

"Tim, it's getting late and I just don't know what to tell Ben," she sobbed. "He keeps asking when you and Jennifer are going to come get him, and I just..."

Tim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Just - I don't know, tell him that we're going to be working all night. Better yet, let me talk to him."

"Okay," Julie answered quietly. Tim heard Julie step into the living room and call out for Ben.

"Hi Daddy," he said breathlessly.

"What did you do, run for the phone?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Ben answered. "Where's Momma?"

Tim sighed. "Mom and I are going to be working really late, son. I'm sorry, something just came up."

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

Tim smiled at his son's sixth sense. "Everything's fine, Ben. You're going to spend the night with Mimi, and I'll come get you in the morning, okay?"

"What about Momma?"

Tears stung Tim's eyes and he fought the lump forming in his throat. "We'll just have to see, Ben. Mom's really tied up on this case."

"Okay," Ben said quietly.

"I love you, Ben, you know that, right?"

"I know, Daddy. I love you too."

Tim swallowed hard. "I'll see you in the morning, sport. Be good for Mimi." He snapped the phone shut and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm sorry, Speed." Horatio placed an encouraging hand on Tim's shoulder. "I can only imagine how difficult this is for you."

"Did he ever threaten either of you?" Calleigh asked gently.

Tim shrugged. "Who knows? God, Calleigh, you know how often we're threatened with something or other."

"So how do we get my little sister back?" John pounded his fist on Horatio's desk. "That's what I want to know."

"The motor oil we found in Travis' footprints is from a very specific brand, primarily used in boats," Eric explained to the group now assembled in the trace lab.

"So, the guy may have been around one of the marinas," Horatio stated. "Let's start checking around and see if Travis Haley has rented any buildings lately."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jennifer awoke with a start, keenly aware of a set of eyes on her. "Travis?" she questioned.

"Hi," he responded gently. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you earlier, it's just....."

Jennifer answered bitterly. "Sore subject, I get it. What time is it?"

"Almost seven," he told her.

"My son's probably wondering where I am by now. Today was his last day of school. We're supposed to be leaving on our vacation Monday, Disney Cruise," she rambled.

"I know, I'm sorry," he began to explain. "I didn't think I'd have to take you until after your vacation. But we're leaving Tuesday, so you being on a ship in the Caribbean certainly wouldn't have done me any good."

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

Travis shook his head. "That's not important. You'll find out soon enough."

Jennifer sat in silence, fighting back the tears stinging at her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of Travis again. She was stronger than that.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her after a minute.

She nodded weakly.

"Let me make you some dinner. I've got chicken or steak, and I can make you some vegetables. Do you have a preference?"

"Chicken's fine," she answered. "Can I come with you? I could help."

Travis seemed to consider this for a moment. He nodded. "Come on," he said.

Jennifer gratefully got up; making her way out of the small, dark room into a large, loft style living space. Anxious to make small talk and keep Travis is a good mood, she said, "This is really nice. Did you do all this yourself?"

"No," he answered, "it pretty much came this way. I rented the furniture, since I knew I wouldn't be here very long."

Jennifer followed him into the open kitchen and was able to see him for the first time. He was tall, taller than Tim but not as tall as John, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was handsome, well-built and tan. "What?" he asked with a smile when he caught her staring.

"Nothing," she answered, shaking her head. "Your hair is the same color as my son's."

"He's adopted, right?" Travis asked, removing the chicken from the wrapping and placing it in a clear glass bowl.

"Yeah, over a year and a half ago," she told him.

"You're really good with him."

Jennifer was taken aback. She swallowed hard. "You've...you've been watching us?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I had to get your routines down, that kind of thing. I hate that the kid is going to be hurt by this; he loves you a lot. He lost his real parents, didn't he?"

Jennifer snapped the green beans he'd placed on the counter and angrily tossed them into a bowl. "That's not the way we refer to it," she said irritably. "Yes, his first parents died, but Tim and I are just as much his 'real' parents as David and Maria."

Travis smiled gently, turning his attention to Jennifer. "That's your sore subject, I get it. You're a good mother, Jennifer. Maybe we can do something about that one of these days."

"You're not going to take my son, too," she warned.

"That's not what I was referring to. I thought you might like to have your own kids."

"With you?" Jennifer set her steely eyes on him, her stomach churning with rage.

"I'm hoping you grow to like me a little more than you do now," he answered, seasoning the chicken with Italian dressing. "I'm really not a bad guy."

"Forgive me if I don't happen to believe that," she shot back.