Disclaimers in Chapter 1
~~~~~ Chapter Two: Paper Roses ~~~~~
Speed was getting nowhere fast trying to find a connection between the victims. From all appearances, they were from different cities, had different lifestyles and had nothing and no one in common.
Adell was having only slightly better luck. Scott Craig, Hillary Lancaster's fiancé, had provided the Omaha PD with a box of letters he had found while going through her things. Apparently, Hillary had been keeping the letters, but planned to destroy them once she and Scott returned from their honeymoon. Inside the box were three unsigned letters bound together by a black satin ribbon. When Scott opened the envelopes, a dark red rose petal fell out of each one. The case officer from Omaha sent the letters, the rose petals and ribbon to the Miami Crime Lab for further investigation.
Nearly a week had passed since murder number three, and the evidence collected thus far had wielded no solid leads. The bullets had all shattered on impact, destroying the victims' hearts and rendering ballistics tests futile. However, the letters hadn't been completely analyzed yet, so there were still possibilities.
~~~~~
Horatio was behind the closed doors of his office working through the minutia of bureaucracy when his cell phone rang.
Flipping the phone open and checking the digital display, he answered, "Speed, what's up?"
"Uh, H, you'd better come downstairs to the front desk. There's someone here I think you're gonna want to talk to."
"I'll be right down." Horatio didn't even question the statement...he knew instinctively that the visitor had something to do with the "Rosebud Killer" case.
On his way downstairs, he stopped by ballistics and asked Calleigh to accompany him, an invitation she accepted without hesitation. He ushered her out of the lab with his hand hovering protectively at the small of her back and walked just a step behind her through the familiar halls and down the stairs, both acts Calleigh had always thought of as more gallant than patronizing.
As the pair approached the front desk, Horatio took notice of Speed, who was attempting to console a visibly shaken young blonde girl.
"Amy Holloway...Lieutenant Horatio Caine and Detective Calleigh Duquesne." The girl nodded in their direction in response to Speed's introduction.
"Amy found this in her mailbox today." Speed, already glove-bedecked and ready for business, held up a nondescript piece of typing paper, neatly folded into thirds.
The unfolded paper revealed a rose petal.
Speed placed the letter on the counter for the group to see. Horatio read aloud, "One American Beauty for another. I will have your heart. Soon." There was no signature, but a faint smudged fingerprint was visible in the bottom right corner of the page.
"I'm not even seeing anybody right now," Amy admitted. "I don't know who put this in my box, but the whole thing creeped me out, so I called the police. They suggested I come see you. Does this letter have anything to do with those murdered girls I heard about on TV?"
Horatio spoke diplomatically, in generalities. "Ms. Holloway, thank you for bringing this letter down to us. I'm not at liberty to discuss any ongoing investigations, but I would appreciate it if you kept all this to yourself and didn't speak to anyone, most especially any members of the press who might approach you."
"Wow. It *is* about those murders. Sure, I'll keep quiet. But you have to make sure I'm not next on this wacko's list, you know?"
"We'll do our best, ma'am. Now, would you excuse us for just a second? We'll be right back." Horatio motioned for Calleigh and Speed to come with him.
Before they could all go their separate ways, Horatio doled out responsibilities in an urgent, hushed tone.
"Okay, this guy is getting brave now. He's escalating. We have to work fast. Calleigh, take the letter down to trace. Speed, please see that Ms. Holloway gets home."
He turned back to the young blonde and reassured her as best he could.
"Amy, we'll be in touch. No worries-we'll get the man who wrote this before he has a chance to try anything with you, but if something else should happen, please give me a call."
He handed her his business card and looked cautiously toward Calleigh, then at Speed. There was no mistaking his meaning--they were running out of time.
~~~~~
After only a few hours, the lab was able to match the print from Amy Holloway's letter to a partial print from one of Hillary's letters. A search through AFIS proved unsuccessful, though. There was no match to be found. The killer was either a first-time offender or extremely cautious.
Eric made copies of the lab results for the rest of the team and set out to hand deliver them. As he passed the break room, he looked in, finding Speed leaning casually against the countertop, cradling a coffee cup with both hands.
"Hey, Speed. Hot off the press-the latest lab reports on the 'Rosebud Killer' fingerprints."
Speed, concentrating on the contents of his cup, said nothing.
"Yo, Speed! Earth to Speed." Eric waved his hand in front of Speed's face a couple of times.
Tim looked up then, his trance broken.
"Sorry, man. I was just thinking."
"Should I start running now? You know it's dangerous when you do that," Eric teased.
Speed's more serious eyes met Eric's, conveying a somber truth they both had considered, but didn't want to think about too closely.
Eric gave in and spoke first.
"I know what you're thinkin', man. Don't even go there. Just because Calleigh looks like this freak's victims, it doesn't mean she's next."
Ever the skeptic, Speed was unconvinced. "Yeah, well, I won't bet the farm on it. We gotta nail this guy before he gets the chance to try anything with Calleigh."
~~~~~
The following day, Calleigh sat at her post in the A/V lab reviewing bank machine videotapes for a rash of 'smash and grabs' at local ATMs. Ashley, the lab's resident errand girl, knocked quietly and entered the room carrying a short stack of mail for Calleigh along with a long white box. She passed the envelopes to Calleigh and turned to leave when she remembered the package.
"Oh, here. This is yours too," Ashley said, offering the box to Calleigh.
"For me? Thanks, Ash." Calleigh's eyes lit up at the prospect of what could only be flowers from someone, but who could it be?
She carefully lifted the two halves of the box apart to reveal a rose--a blood red American Beauty if she wasn't mistaken--and no indication of who had sent it. A frown creased her brow at the same instant Ashley soughed a wistful "Ooh, how pretty!"
Without so much as a glance in Ashley's direction, Calleigh picked up the box, careful not to mar it with her own fingerprints, and rushed from the lab. She stuffed the box in an evidence bag and deposited it in her locker. After hours, when she was alone and the building would be empty, she would examine them. This could be an innocent gift from a secret admirer or it could be something much more menacing. No need to draw undue attention to this little development unless and until she had reason to suspect the latter.
~~~~~
Horatio dropped heavily into bed, his mind refusing to surrender to sleep.
The Rosebud Killer case was still unsolved, and the body count threatened to rise. Now, this guy was playing mind games, alerting potential victims to his plans for them.
And, as if that weren't enough to keep Horatio disconcerted, he couldn't stop thinking about Calleigh.
For months now, he'd been sensing a shift in their relationship, one that led into more personal emotional territory. Ordinarily, he would have welcomed the change, but he recognized that his concern for her safety could so easily interfere with their work. The fact that she resembled the victims in this latest case and might be in danger simply strengthened his resolve-nothing would harm her on his watch, and his watch would be eternal.
Once this murderer was caught, they needed to sit down and have a nice long conversation; but until then, Horatio's focus had to remain on the case.
Despite having made up his mind where Calleigh was concerned, he still spent an uneasy, seemingly endless night wrestling with conflicting images of her--one, vibrant and alive, wrapped safely in his embrace after a night of passionate abandon, the other, a cold, empty shell, her eyes closed in death, a rose laid out gruesomely across her chest.
~~~~~
Calleigh spent that same night sleepless as well, but for completely different reasons...she was doing everything conceivable to glean evidence from the box and the rose she received earlier in the day.
The battery of tests took hour upon hour to complete and boredom loomed irritatingly over her, but finally, one result brought her back to fully alert. A fingerprint on the box matched those of prints on Amy and Hillary's letters. This "gift" was from the killer. These crimes were all related. Now, all they needed to do was to put a name with the fingerprint and find him. So intent was she on identifying and apprehending the man that she failed to accept the fact that now *she* was, in effect, a marked woman, slated to be the killer's next prey.
~~~~~
Adell knocked brusquely on Horatio's office door and walked in without waiting for an invitation.
"We've got a solid lead on Rosebud Boy, H."
"Talk to me." Horatio's eyes lit with anticipation.
"I've been in contact with Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, victim number one's parents. They've been trying to come up with anything that might help us. Mrs. Lancaster remembered an incident from last year when Hillary was in college. She had occasion to meet one of the campus employees, a 'Clyde Huffman', who, over time developed a bit of a crush on her."
The gears in Horatio's mind were turning at top speed.
"And let me guess...Hillary didn't return his affections? His pursuit of her turned into a stalking."
Adell nodded and winked at his perceptiveness.
"There's more. Care to take a guess as to what line of work Loverboy is in? I'll save you the trouble. He is a groundskeeper. Wait for it...I checked with the university...the yard around Hillary's dormitory is full of American Beauty rose bushes. He's our guy, H. I can feel it."
Her arch little smile signaled impending victory.
This was it, the connection they needed!
Horatio rose quickly from his seat, grabbing his suit coat from behind the door.
"Nice work, Adell. I assume you've alerted Omaha PD and arranged for a warrant?"
The detective's enthusiasm waned visibly.
"Already done. New problem. No one's seen hide nor hair of him in over three weeks. He's disappeared without a trace. The university faxed me his employee ID photo-the APB is in the works as we speak."
Horatio was undaunted. "Three weeks missing, huh? The same time span as the murders. Well, well...it seems as though the case against our Mr. Huffman just keeps getting stronger."
The pair left the office then, Adell exiting the building and Horatio going in search of Calleigh. He had to share the news with her.
~~~~~
Horatio made a quick but thorough search of all Calleigh's usual haunts, saving the Audio/Visual department for last. When he entered the A/V lab, he found Calleigh hard at work, still pouring through ATM videos trying to ID the 'smash and grab' artist.
"Knock, knock, knock" he murmured, advancing quietly into the room.
Her concentration broken, Calleigh straightened from her hunched-over position and tried to stifle a weary yawn.
Horatio gave a lighthearted chuckle, grinning as he spoke, "Long day?"
By this time, he had moved in close, positioning himself at her back in perfect placement to catch a glimpse of her current project.
"Hey. You have *no* idea." She smiled wanly back at him, a bit of her weariness dissipating, and turned back toward her work.
He longed to take hold of her shoulders and relieve some of her obvious tension, but fought the urge, settling instead on a more innocuous gesture...gently fingering the soft waves of her hair that currently rested so close to his chest.
Calleigh allowed herself only a few seconds to enjoy the sensations created by his touch, denying the impulse to sink back and rest against his solid warmth. Instead, she spun the seat of her chair toward him, giving him no other option but to break contact and step back to make room for her knees, instantly putting space between them. For Horatio it felt like an unbridgeable chasm. Their eyes met for only a moment, but mutual longing crisscrossed the distance and eased both their yearnings into a resigned state of acceptance. He wanted to reach out to her, but he wasn't sure how best to do it. And so he did nothing, letting the moment pass unchallenged.
Horatio breathed deep, mercifully breaking the pregnant silence. "We may have an ID on the Rosebud Killer."
At this news, Calleigh's eyebrows lifted, taking up residence very near her hairline.
"Really? I'm sorry I missed it."
She gifted him with a crooked smile, but her tone left no room for argument- -she was disappointed and hurt; she still felt left out.
"Calleigh, don't do this. You've been busy with the ATM robberies and Adell followed up on a lead. That's all. You're still in the loop on this one, so no worries, okay?"
His smile was genuine, but Calleigh still had her doubts.
She pushed on, eager to be a part of the investigation. "So, what's next?"
The uneasiness temporarily relieved between them, Horatio got back to business.
"At the moment, our suspect, Clyde Huffman of Omaha, is missing in action. He may still be in town or he could have gone back home. The APB is in place. If he's still in Miami, we will find him, and when we do, you can be there when we make the collar."
Calleigh flashed him the sweetest of smiles and rose from her chair to clear away the materials from the day's workload.
"You're on, Handsome," came her more relaxed response.
Horatio's pulse quickened at her use of the endearment. He'd only ever heard her say it once before to him, and his reaction now was the same as then-affection to the *nth* degree coupled with a gentle tug on his heartstrings.
Someday, Calleigh, someday... he mused to himself.
His emotions dangerously near the point of irrevocable release, Horatio subtly cleared his throat, not daring to look into her eyes, and began retracing his path out of the room.
As he stepped through the door he nearly ran into Ashley, her face hidden behind a large white box. He extended his arms to prevent their collision.
"Whoa, easy." Ever the gentleman, Horatio reached for the package, offering, "Here, let me help with that."
Ashley smiled gratefully and began to hand off the box when Calleigh sprang into action.
It took only a split second for her to realize what was in the box. She needed to confiscate it before Horatio could get a look inside.
She quickly inserted herself between Ashley and Horatio saying, "Oh, I'll take it. Thanks, Ash. I've been waiting for this."
Grabbing the box from Ashley, Calleigh turned and shoved it under the counter, then swiveled back toward Horatio, distractedly swiping strands of unruly hair out of her face.
Horatio's arms came to rest at his hips but his eyes bore holes through the floor, the posture Calleigh recognized as his 'bloodhound on a scent' stance.
Horatio eyed her suspiciously and carefully chose his next words.
"Calleigh...what's going on? Is there something you should tell me, anything I need to know?"
"Um...oh, that? No. It's nothing, just something I ordered on-line..." she answered, but her voice was so timid and edgy even she was unconvinced.
She hoped he would let the issue drop.
He knew better than to push her when she behaved like this, so he took another tack.
"Alright, but you know where to find me if you need me." He looked at her almost expectantly and paused for a beat.
The intensity of his gaze wasn't uncomfortable, necessarily, but Calleigh was unable to maintain eye contact for long, guilt creeping up on her like a phantom in the night.
"I'm fine; everything's fine, Horatio."
There it was, the pat answer she always gave whenever he inquired about her welfare.
"You're sure?" He couldn't help but ask, concern weaving itself around each word, reaching out to her softly in an almost palpable caress.
"Positive." She graced him with another one of those defense-melting smiles.
Silence held sway for a long, impotent moment.
Horatio sensed that there were some missing details here, something she was hiding, but he regretfully took his leave without further antagonizing her. Once out of earshot, though, he flipped open his cell phone and made a call.
"Frank. Horatio. I need to call in a favor. Here's what I want you to do..."
~~~~~
~TBC~
~~~~~ Chapter Two: Paper Roses ~~~~~
Speed was getting nowhere fast trying to find a connection between the victims. From all appearances, they were from different cities, had different lifestyles and had nothing and no one in common.
Adell was having only slightly better luck. Scott Craig, Hillary Lancaster's fiancé, had provided the Omaha PD with a box of letters he had found while going through her things. Apparently, Hillary had been keeping the letters, but planned to destroy them once she and Scott returned from their honeymoon. Inside the box were three unsigned letters bound together by a black satin ribbon. When Scott opened the envelopes, a dark red rose petal fell out of each one. The case officer from Omaha sent the letters, the rose petals and ribbon to the Miami Crime Lab for further investigation.
Nearly a week had passed since murder number three, and the evidence collected thus far had wielded no solid leads. The bullets had all shattered on impact, destroying the victims' hearts and rendering ballistics tests futile. However, the letters hadn't been completely analyzed yet, so there were still possibilities.
~~~~~
Horatio was behind the closed doors of his office working through the minutia of bureaucracy when his cell phone rang.
Flipping the phone open and checking the digital display, he answered, "Speed, what's up?"
"Uh, H, you'd better come downstairs to the front desk. There's someone here I think you're gonna want to talk to."
"I'll be right down." Horatio didn't even question the statement...he knew instinctively that the visitor had something to do with the "Rosebud Killer" case.
On his way downstairs, he stopped by ballistics and asked Calleigh to accompany him, an invitation she accepted without hesitation. He ushered her out of the lab with his hand hovering protectively at the small of her back and walked just a step behind her through the familiar halls and down the stairs, both acts Calleigh had always thought of as more gallant than patronizing.
As the pair approached the front desk, Horatio took notice of Speed, who was attempting to console a visibly shaken young blonde girl.
"Amy Holloway...Lieutenant Horatio Caine and Detective Calleigh Duquesne." The girl nodded in their direction in response to Speed's introduction.
"Amy found this in her mailbox today." Speed, already glove-bedecked and ready for business, held up a nondescript piece of typing paper, neatly folded into thirds.
The unfolded paper revealed a rose petal.
Speed placed the letter on the counter for the group to see. Horatio read aloud, "One American Beauty for another. I will have your heart. Soon." There was no signature, but a faint smudged fingerprint was visible in the bottom right corner of the page.
"I'm not even seeing anybody right now," Amy admitted. "I don't know who put this in my box, but the whole thing creeped me out, so I called the police. They suggested I come see you. Does this letter have anything to do with those murdered girls I heard about on TV?"
Horatio spoke diplomatically, in generalities. "Ms. Holloway, thank you for bringing this letter down to us. I'm not at liberty to discuss any ongoing investigations, but I would appreciate it if you kept all this to yourself and didn't speak to anyone, most especially any members of the press who might approach you."
"Wow. It *is* about those murders. Sure, I'll keep quiet. But you have to make sure I'm not next on this wacko's list, you know?"
"We'll do our best, ma'am. Now, would you excuse us for just a second? We'll be right back." Horatio motioned for Calleigh and Speed to come with him.
Before they could all go their separate ways, Horatio doled out responsibilities in an urgent, hushed tone.
"Okay, this guy is getting brave now. He's escalating. We have to work fast. Calleigh, take the letter down to trace. Speed, please see that Ms. Holloway gets home."
He turned back to the young blonde and reassured her as best he could.
"Amy, we'll be in touch. No worries-we'll get the man who wrote this before he has a chance to try anything with you, but if something else should happen, please give me a call."
He handed her his business card and looked cautiously toward Calleigh, then at Speed. There was no mistaking his meaning--they were running out of time.
~~~~~
After only a few hours, the lab was able to match the print from Amy Holloway's letter to a partial print from one of Hillary's letters. A search through AFIS proved unsuccessful, though. There was no match to be found. The killer was either a first-time offender or extremely cautious.
Eric made copies of the lab results for the rest of the team and set out to hand deliver them. As he passed the break room, he looked in, finding Speed leaning casually against the countertop, cradling a coffee cup with both hands.
"Hey, Speed. Hot off the press-the latest lab reports on the 'Rosebud Killer' fingerprints."
Speed, concentrating on the contents of his cup, said nothing.
"Yo, Speed! Earth to Speed." Eric waved his hand in front of Speed's face a couple of times.
Tim looked up then, his trance broken.
"Sorry, man. I was just thinking."
"Should I start running now? You know it's dangerous when you do that," Eric teased.
Speed's more serious eyes met Eric's, conveying a somber truth they both had considered, but didn't want to think about too closely.
Eric gave in and spoke first.
"I know what you're thinkin', man. Don't even go there. Just because Calleigh looks like this freak's victims, it doesn't mean she's next."
Ever the skeptic, Speed was unconvinced. "Yeah, well, I won't bet the farm on it. We gotta nail this guy before he gets the chance to try anything with Calleigh."
~~~~~
The following day, Calleigh sat at her post in the A/V lab reviewing bank machine videotapes for a rash of 'smash and grabs' at local ATMs. Ashley, the lab's resident errand girl, knocked quietly and entered the room carrying a short stack of mail for Calleigh along with a long white box. She passed the envelopes to Calleigh and turned to leave when she remembered the package.
"Oh, here. This is yours too," Ashley said, offering the box to Calleigh.
"For me? Thanks, Ash." Calleigh's eyes lit up at the prospect of what could only be flowers from someone, but who could it be?
She carefully lifted the two halves of the box apart to reveal a rose--a blood red American Beauty if she wasn't mistaken--and no indication of who had sent it. A frown creased her brow at the same instant Ashley soughed a wistful "Ooh, how pretty!"
Without so much as a glance in Ashley's direction, Calleigh picked up the box, careful not to mar it with her own fingerprints, and rushed from the lab. She stuffed the box in an evidence bag and deposited it in her locker. After hours, when she was alone and the building would be empty, she would examine them. This could be an innocent gift from a secret admirer or it could be something much more menacing. No need to draw undue attention to this little development unless and until she had reason to suspect the latter.
~~~~~
Horatio dropped heavily into bed, his mind refusing to surrender to sleep.
The Rosebud Killer case was still unsolved, and the body count threatened to rise. Now, this guy was playing mind games, alerting potential victims to his plans for them.
And, as if that weren't enough to keep Horatio disconcerted, he couldn't stop thinking about Calleigh.
For months now, he'd been sensing a shift in their relationship, one that led into more personal emotional territory. Ordinarily, he would have welcomed the change, but he recognized that his concern for her safety could so easily interfere with their work. The fact that she resembled the victims in this latest case and might be in danger simply strengthened his resolve-nothing would harm her on his watch, and his watch would be eternal.
Once this murderer was caught, they needed to sit down and have a nice long conversation; but until then, Horatio's focus had to remain on the case.
Despite having made up his mind where Calleigh was concerned, he still spent an uneasy, seemingly endless night wrestling with conflicting images of her--one, vibrant and alive, wrapped safely in his embrace after a night of passionate abandon, the other, a cold, empty shell, her eyes closed in death, a rose laid out gruesomely across her chest.
~~~~~
Calleigh spent that same night sleepless as well, but for completely different reasons...she was doing everything conceivable to glean evidence from the box and the rose she received earlier in the day.
The battery of tests took hour upon hour to complete and boredom loomed irritatingly over her, but finally, one result brought her back to fully alert. A fingerprint on the box matched those of prints on Amy and Hillary's letters. This "gift" was from the killer. These crimes were all related. Now, all they needed to do was to put a name with the fingerprint and find him. So intent was she on identifying and apprehending the man that she failed to accept the fact that now *she* was, in effect, a marked woman, slated to be the killer's next prey.
~~~~~
Adell knocked brusquely on Horatio's office door and walked in without waiting for an invitation.
"We've got a solid lead on Rosebud Boy, H."
"Talk to me." Horatio's eyes lit with anticipation.
"I've been in contact with Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, victim number one's parents. They've been trying to come up with anything that might help us. Mrs. Lancaster remembered an incident from last year when Hillary was in college. She had occasion to meet one of the campus employees, a 'Clyde Huffman', who, over time developed a bit of a crush on her."
The gears in Horatio's mind were turning at top speed.
"And let me guess...Hillary didn't return his affections? His pursuit of her turned into a stalking."
Adell nodded and winked at his perceptiveness.
"There's more. Care to take a guess as to what line of work Loverboy is in? I'll save you the trouble. He is a groundskeeper. Wait for it...I checked with the university...the yard around Hillary's dormitory is full of American Beauty rose bushes. He's our guy, H. I can feel it."
Her arch little smile signaled impending victory.
This was it, the connection they needed!
Horatio rose quickly from his seat, grabbing his suit coat from behind the door.
"Nice work, Adell. I assume you've alerted Omaha PD and arranged for a warrant?"
The detective's enthusiasm waned visibly.
"Already done. New problem. No one's seen hide nor hair of him in over three weeks. He's disappeared without a trace. The university faxed me his employee ID photo-the APB is in the works as we speak."
Horatio was undaunted. "Three weeks missing, huh? The same time span as the murders. Well, well...it seems as though the case against our Mr. Huffman just keeps getting stronger."
The pair left the office then, Adell exiting the building and Horatio going in search of Calleigh. He had to share the news with her.
~~~~~
Horatio made a quick but thorough search of all Calleigh's usual haunts, saving the Audio/Visual department for last. When he entered the A/V lab, he found Calleigh hard at work, still pouring through ATM videos trying to ID the 'smash and grab' artist.
"Knock, knock, knock" he murmured, advancing quietly into the room.
Her concentration broken, Calleigh straightened from her hunched-over position and tried to stifle a weary yawn.
Horatio gave a lighthearted chuckle, grinning as he spoke, "Long day?"
By this time, he had moved in close, positioning himself at her back in perfect placement to catch a glimpse of her current project.
"Hey. You have *no* idea." She smiled wanly back at him, a bit of her weariness dissipating, and turned back toward her work.
He longed to take hold of her shoulders and relieve some of her obvious tension, but fought the urge, settling instead on a more innocuous gesture...gently fingering the soft waves of her hair that currently rested so close to his chest.
Calleigh allowed herself only a few seconds to enjoy the sensations created by his touch, denying the impulse to sink back and rest against his solid warmth. Instead, she spun the seat of her chair toward him, giving him no other option but to break contact and step back to make room for her knees, instantly putting space between them. For Horatio it felt like an unbridgeable chasm. Their eyes met for only a moment, but mutual longing crisscrossed the distance and eased both their yearnings into a resigned state of acceptance. He wanted to reach out to her, but he wasn't sure how best to do it. And so he did nothing, letting the moment pass unchallenged.
Horatio breathed deep, mercifully breaking the pregnant silence. "We may have an ID on the Rosebud Killer."
At this news, Calleigh's eyebrows lifted, taking up residence very near her hairline.
"Really? I'm sorry I missed it."
She gifted him with a crooked smile, but her tone left no room for argument- -she was disappointed and hurt; she still felt left out.
"Calleigh, don't do this. You've been busy with the ATM robberies and Adell followed up on a lead. That's all. You're still in the loop on this one, so no worries, okay?"
His smile was genuine, but Calleigh still had her doubts.
She pushed on, eager to be a part of the investigation. "So, what's next?"
The uneasiness temporarily relieved between them, Horatio got back to business.
"At the moment, our suspect, Clyde Huffman of Omaha, is missing in action. He may still be in town or he could have gone back home. The APB is in place. If he's still in Miami, we will find him, and when we do, you can be there when we make the collar."
Calleigh flashed him the sweetest of smiles and rose from her chair to clear away the materials from the day's workload.
"You're on, Handsome," came her more relaxed response.
Horatio's pulse quickened at her use of the endearment. He'd only ever heard her say it once before to him, and his reaction now was the same as then-affection to the *nth* degree coupled with a gentle tug on his heartstrings.
Someday, Calleigh, someday... he mused to himself.
His emotions dangerously near the point of irrevocable release, Horatio subtly cleared his throat, not daring to look into her eyes, and began retracing his path out of the room.
As he stepped through the door he nearly ran into Ashley, her face hidden behind a large white box. He extended his arms to prevent their collision.
"Whoa, easy." Ever the gentleman, Horatio reached for the package, offering, "Here, let me help with that."
Ashley smiled gratefully and began to hand off the box when Calleigh sprang into action.
It took only a split second for her to realize what was in the box. She needed to confiscate it before Horatio could get a look inside.
She quickly inserted herself between Ashley and Horatio saying, "Oh, I'll take it. Thanks, Ash. I've been waiting for this."
Grabbing the box from Ashley, Calleigh turned and shoved it under the counter, then swiveled back toward Horatio, distractedly swiping strands of unruly hair out of her face.
Horatio's arms came to rest at his hips but his eyes bore holes through the floor, the posture Calleigh recognized as his 'bloodhound on a scent' stance.
Horatio eyed her suspiciously and carefully chose his next words.
"Calleigh...what's going on? Is there something you should tell me, anything I need to know?"
"Um...oh, that? No. It's nothing, just something I ordered on-line..." she answered, but her voice was so timid and edgy even she was unconvinced.
She hoped he would let the issue drop.
He knew better than to push her when she behaved like this, so he took another tack.
"Alright, but you know where to find me if you need me." He looked at her almost expectantly and paused for a beat.
The intensity of his gaze wasn't uncomfortable, necessarily, but Calleigh was unable to maintain eye contact for long, guilt creeping up on her like a phantom in the night.
"I'm fine; everything's fine, Horatio."
There it was, the pat answer she always gave whenever he inquired about her welfare.
"You're sure?" He couldn't help but ask, concern weaving itself around each word, reaching out to her softly in an almost palpable caress.
"Positive." She graced him with another one of those defense-melting smiles.
Silence held sway for a long, impotent moment.
Horatio sensed that there were some missing details here, something she was hiding, but he regretfully took his leave without further antagonizing her. Once out of earshot, though, he flipped open his cell phone and made a call.
"Frank. Horatio. I need to call in a favor. Here's what I want you to do..."
~~~~~
~TBC~