PART 12
Horatio practically jumped out of the hummer as soon as it came to a stop.
"What our status?" he quickly asked John Hagen who was standing near by
"It looks like they have been held in that building for a while" Hagen pointed at the rundown apartment building "We don't know if there is anyone still in there"
"And the girl? what about the little girl?" Horatio pressed
"She's being checked by the paramedics" Hagen pointed to an ambulance standing near by, as Horatio moved in that direction John grabbed his arm for a moment "We still have no idea where her brother is"
Horatio nodded gravely, understanding what the detective was trying to convey.
He made his way over to the back of the ambulance, Calleigh was already there, happily chatting with the little girl, he noticed that Jamie was standing a few feet away - she seemed to be looking at the building but he knew her well enough to know that she was listening in to every word out of the girl's mouth and that she will probably remember every syllable later.
"Hey there!" he smiled gently at the girl and couldn't help but notice how she slightly flinched at the sound of a male voice "You're Annie aren't you?"
The girl nodded slightly - still eyeing him suspiciously
"Well Hello Annie, my name is Horatio, and we've all been looking for you for a really long time" he smiled at her and she finally smiled back, feeling more at ease. "Annie, Calleigh here is going to take you to the hospital and stay with you while they make sure you're ok - your parents are gonna be there too, and after that, you and I are going to talk some more ok?"
The girl nodded again and inched even closer to Calleigh, obviously happy not to be left alone. Horatio turned to leave when he finally heard her speak in a small voice
"Are you going to find Kyle too?"
He turned back and smiled at her again, leaning in so he was at eye level with her "I will, but I'm going to need your help Annie, you want to help me find your brother?"
She nodded and smiled at him again and he gave her a small pat on the knee. Careful to limit the contact as to not harm any evidence.
"Call' " He called the blond over "I want a full analysis on this girl." he hesitated for a second before going on "And do a full rape kit"
A few minutes later he joined Speed and Erik to watch the SWAT team come out of the building, finally giving the all clear. Horatio saw Hagen exchange a few words with the team leader, when he finished he looked at Horatio, shaking his head slightly - There was no sign for the boy!
*
"So now what?" Speed slumped into a chair and broke the uncomfortable silence
Horatio looked around the room at his team. Calleigh had just finished performing a rape kit on a 9 year old girl - an experience he knew, will haunt her for the rest of her life, no matter what the results of the test will turn out to be. Erik was sitting in the far corner with a glum face, frustrated beyond belief, Horatio could see him clenching and unclenching his fist, an involuntary movement that only happened when he was frustrated enough to actually punch someone or something. Speed was using his usual mean of venting - sarcasm - and a lot of it. Jamie was going over her notes yet again, closing her eyes and mumbling to herself, trying to find something in her memory that she might have missed.
They were all tiered, so was he. They have been working for 48 hours straight now, and the exhaustion was beginning to show.
"We keep going." He finally said "We've done a good job so far but we're not done yet. We still have a kid out there, and we need to find him. Erik, I want you to go over the apartment - go over everything, no matter how trivial it might look. Calleigh, stick with Hagen and Agent Evans, it's time to feed this to the press, maybe we'll get lucky and someone will spot the boy somewhere. Jamie, stay with the girl - analyze the rape kit and work with her, we need to find out what she remembers. Speed, you're with me"
"What are we going to do?" Speed asked as they all started getting up
"We're going to make some people talk"
*
Calleigh walked into Jamie's lab with a brown evidence bag in her hand.
"Is this the rape kit?" Jamie asked quietly, when Calleigh nodded she reached over and took the bag from her, noting the Calleigh actually let out a sigh of relief. Just handing the bag over to someone else made her feel lighter - as if a burden has been lifted from her shoulders. "Your first child rape kit?"
"Yeah, I mean, I did it once before, but she was dead, the girl I mean. it was."
"Easier" Jamie completed the sentence
"God, that sounded awful, saying it was easier when the girl was dead." Calleigh shook her head and slumped into a chair
"It's ok Call, I know what you mean" Jamie smiled reassuringly "Did you notice anything during the test? Did she object to anything? Did she cry? Anything you can think of that will trigger some memories?"
"Not much, she wasn't cooperating much, didn't want me to even touch her. It's not a good sign isn't it?"
Jamie didn't answer, she didn't need to.
Calleigh nodded again and started heading outside, suddenly she remembered something and turned back to Jamie with a mischievous smile on her face "By the way."
"Don't start with me Call" Jamie said warningly, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice
"Come on, I find you and Tim Speedle, locked in, in the evidence locker, and you expect me not to ask about it?" She came over to the table next to Jamie and leaned in, whispering "You have to give me something here James!"
Even though she was protesting, she was enjoying this - she never had a lot of girlfriends, being younger than anyone around her, she grew up kind of isolated - it was fun to have a girl talk like this
"We kissed, nothing more. nothing happened!" Jamie tried to sound nonchalant
"Is he a good kisser?"
"Calleigh!!!" Jamie said in mock shock and they both giggled
"Come on, tell me if he's a good kisser and that's it! Is he?"
Jamie just smiled and looked over at Calleigh "Oh Yeah, he's a very good kisser!!!"
*
Horatio and Speed both stood on the side walk and leaned against the hummer. There was a small crowd of neighbors gathering behind them.
Two social workers came out of the small house with three children, two old enough to walk - about 7 or 8, another one merely a baby. A young woman came running out of the house after them, crying and sobbing. She reached out and tried to touch the children, but a police officer blocked her way and restrained her.
Yelena came out next, behind her were two uniformed police officers leading the handcuffed Roberto Cruz between them. She watched as they place him in a squad car and came over to Horatio and Speed. "You have a warrant to search the place as much as you want, the office too."
"What about the wife?" Speed indicated to the woman still sobbing and screaming on the front porch.
"I'll question her, but I don't think she knows anything" Yelena replied, then hesitated for a moment "We can't keep them for long.the kids I mean. Without any proof a sexual abuse or neglect... there isn't much we can do"
"Just give us a few hours" Horatio asked "I need some time"
"I'll buy you as much time as I can."
Horatio practically jumped out of the hummer as soon as it came to a stop.
"What our status?" he quickly asked John Hagen who was standing near by
"It looks like they have been held in that building for a while" Hagen pointed at the rundown apartment building "We don't know if there is anyone still in there"
"And the girl? what about the little girl?" Horatio pressed
"She's being checked by the paramedics" Hagen pointed to an ambulance standing near by, as Horatio moved in that direction John grabbed his arm for a moment "We still have no idea where her brother is"
Horatio nodded gravely, understanding what the detective was trying to convey.
He made his way over to the back of the ambulance, Calleigh was already there, happily chatting with the little girl, he noticed that Jamie was standing a few feet away - she seemed to be looking at the building but he knew her well enough to know that she was listening in to every word out of the girl's mouth and that she will probably remember every syllable later.
"Hey there!" he smiled gently at the girl and couldn't help but notice how she slightly flinched at the sound of a male voice "You're Annie aren't you?"
The girl nodded slightly - still eyeing him suspiciously
"Well Hello Annie, my name is Horatio, and we've all been looking for you for a really long time" he smiled at her and she finally smiled back, feeling more at ease. "Annie, Calleigh here is going to take you to the hospital and stay with you while they make sure you're ok - your parents are gonna be there too, and after that, you and I are going to talk some more ok?"
The girl nodded again and inched even closer to Calleigh, obviously happy not to be left alone. Horatio turned to leave when he finally heard her speak in a small voice
"Are you going to find Kyle too?"
He turned back and smiled at her again, leaning in so he was at eye level with her "I will, but I'm going to need your help Annie, you want to help me find your brother?"
She nodded and smiled at him again and he gave her a small pat on the knee. Careful to limit the contact as to not harm any evidence.
"Call' " He called the blond over "I want a full analysis on this girl." he hesitated for a second before going on "And do a full rape kit"
A few minutes later he joined Speed and Erik to watch the SWAT team come out of the building, finally giving the all clear. Horatio saw Hagen exchange a few words with the team leader, when he finished he looked at Horatio, shaking his head slightly - There was no sign for the boy!
*
"So now what?" Speed slumped into a chair and broke the uncomfortable silence
Horatio looked around the room at his team. Calleigh had just finished performing a rape kit on a 9 year old girl - an experience he knew, will haunt her for the rest of her life, no matter what the results of the test will turn out to be. Erik was sitting in the far corner with a glum face, frustrated beyond belief, Horatio could see him clenching and unclenching his fist, an involuntary movement that only happened when he was frustrated enough to actually punch someone or something. Speed was using his usual mean of venting - sarcasm - and a lot of it. Jamie was going over her notes yet again, closing her eyes and mumbling to herself, trying to find something in her memory that she might have missed.
They were all tiered, so was he. They have been working for 48 hours straight now, and the exhaustion was beginning to show.
"We keep going." He finally said "We've done a good job so far but we're not done yet. We still have a kid out there, and we need to find him. Erik, I want you to go over the apartment - go over everything, no matter how trivial it might look. Calleigh, stick with Hagen and Agent Evans, it's time to feed this to the press, maybe we'll get lucky and someone will spot the boy somewhere. Jamie, stay with the girl - analyze the rape kit and work with her, we need to find out what she remembers. Speed, you're with me"
"What are we going to do?" Speed asked as they all started getting up
"We're going to make some people talk"
*
Calleigh walked into Jamie's lab with a brown evidence bag in her hand.
"Is this the rape kit?" Jamie asked quietly, when Calleigh nodded she reached over and took the bag from her, noting the Calleigh actually let out a sigh of relief. Just handing the bag over to someone else made her feel lighter - as if a burden has been lifted from her shoulders. "Your first child rape kit?"
"Yeah, I mean, I did it once before, but she was dead, the girl I mean. it was."
"Easier" Jamie completed the sentence
"God, that sounded awful, saying it was easier when the girl was dead." Calleigh shook her head and slumped into a chair
"It's ok Call, I know what you mean" Jamie smiled reassuringly "Did you notice anything during the test? Did she object to anything? Did she cry? Anything you can think of that will trigger some memories?"
"Not much, she wasn't cooperating much, didn't want me to even touch her. It's not a good sign isn't it?"
Jamie didn't answer, she didn't need to.
Calleigh nodded again and started heading outside, suddenly she remembered something and turned back to Jamie with a mischievous smile on her face "By the way."
"Don't start with me Call" Jamie said warningly, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice
"Come on, I find you and Tim Speedle, locked in, in the evidence locker, and you expect me not to ask about it?" She came over to the table next to Jamie and leaned in, whispering "You have to give me something here James!"
Even though she was protesting, she was enjoying this - she never had a lot of girlfriends, being younger than anyone around her, she grew up kind of isolated - it was fun to have a girl talk like this
"We kissed, nothing more. nothing happened!" Jamie tried to sound nonchalant
"Is he a good kisser?"
"Calleigh!!!" Jamie said in mock shock and they both giggled
"Come on, tell me if he's a good kisser and that's it! Is he?"
Jamie just smiled and looked over at Calleigh "Oh Yeah, he's a very good kisser!!!"
*
Horatio and Speed both stood on the side walk and leaned against the hummer. There was a small crowd of neighbors gathering behind them.
Two social workers came out of the small house with three children, two old enough to walk - about 7 or 8, another one merely a baby. A young woman came running out of the house after them, crying and sobbing. She reached out and tried to touch the children, but a police officer blocked her way and restrained her.
Yelena came out next, behind her were two uniformed police officers leading the handcuffed Roberto Cruz between them. She watched as they place him in a squad car and came over to Horatio and Speed. "You have a warrant to search the place as much as you want, the office too."
"What about the wife?" Speed indicated to the woman still sobbing and screaming on the front porch.
"I'll question her, but I don't think she knows anything" Yelena replied, then hesitated for a moment "We can't keep them for long.the kids I mean. Without any proof a sexual abuse or neglect... there isn't much we can do"
"Just give us a few hours" Horatio asked "I need some time"
"I'll buy you as much time as I can."