PART 13
Horatio stood outside the room and watched through the glass, waiting. Michael Benitez was sitting at the table, chewing on his nails nervously, his lawyer at his side.
A police officer opened the door and led Roberto Cruz in, his own lawyer in toe.
Horatio looked closely, searching for something in both men's faced, he finally saw it - the small spark of recognition, the small hint of fear that crossed both men's eyes when they saw each other, realizing that the cops were closer to the truth then they thought.
He smiled and picked up his cell phone "Speed, I need you to look for something."
*
Jamie was standing in front of a different glass.
She watched through the small hospital door window as Annie played with some dolls under the watchful eye of the hospital social worker. Mr. and Mrs. Summers were in the next room, talking to the doctor and another social worker.
She took a deep breath and walked in, plastering a fake smile on her face.
"Hello there Annie!" She walked over and sat down on the floor next to the child, from the look in the little girl's face she could tell that the fact that she didn't pull up a chair like the other adult in the room impressed her and that she liked it. That was the thing about working with traumatized children - every little nuance was important.
"My name is Jamie, and I work with Horatio - remember him, the guy with the red hair and funny name from before?"
The little girl giggled a bit, but then became serious "He said he's going to find my brother"
"He's trying, so am I" Jamie assured her and started playing with one of the Barbie dolls herself "Hey, which Barbie is this?"
"It's Malibu Barbie" the girl said shyly, obviously happy at the change of conversation topic "See? She has a bathing suite."
"Have you ever been to Malibu Annie?"
"Yeah, my parents took us."
Jamie already knew all about the family vacation to California last summer, she knew all there was to know about the Summers, she even took another tour in their house before coming here. There was a picture from that vacation in the living room - the four of them, on the beach, smiling brightly at the camera.
She let the girl tell her about it anyway, letting the conversation continue a bit longer until she was sure the little girl was comfortable enough.
"Annie, what about the men that took you and Kyle? Did they bring you anywhere?"
*
"Mr. Benitez, Mr. Cruz - you know why we are here." Horatio started
"I want to know where are my children!" Cruz demanded
"Your children are with social services, they are safe - they're away from you" Yelena commented from her place in the back of the room, leaning against the glass wall.
"I love my children."
"I bet you do" Horatio said dryly "Mr. Benitez here loves children too - not his children but all children, don't you Michael?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" he tried to shrug
"We found your collection, that's a lot of porn tapes you have there Michael, a lot of Kiddie porn, you know that's a felony all by itself? I already have you Michael, I have you for a very long time"
"What does that have anything to do with my client?" Cruz's attorney asked impatiently
"We'll get to that." Horatio cut him off "Right now, I want to talk about Mr. Cruz's special vacations offer to South America"
*
"Erik? Erik? Are you in here?"
"Over here!"
David's head appeared in the doorway "They told me you were here. I thought I'd come over to help"
"Stay out there for a minute" Erik instructed "I have some foot prints here, three different sets, I'm trying to follow the pattern."
"What can I do?"
"Hit the lights"
As the lights went off Erik passed a special lamp over the floor and footprints appeared in green florescent glow. Erik quickly photographed them before the glow disappeared.
They continued working in silent, collecting a few hair samples from the bathroom, and a partial print from the edge of the sink. When they got to the bedroom they used a blue lamp to check for traces of semen on the mattress, there weren't any on the bed but playing a hunch Erik checked the rest of the room as well. There was a chair near the bed and when Erik brought the blue lamp closer he found traces of semen on the carpet next to the chair.
They were in the kitchen when Erik's phone rang, Jamie was on the other end of the line.
"Hey Erik, you finished with the apartment?"
"There's a lot of evidence here James, looks like these guys have been here for a while"
"Well, according to Annie, the man who took Kyle away was in that apartment, he and Kyle spent about an hour together, alone in the bedroom."
"Dammit!" Erik had a sick feeling in his stomach, like he was about to throw up "We found semen in the bedroom, I'll leave David to finish up here and bring it by the lab right away"
"I'll be waiting."
*
Horatio looked up from the two men in front of him when he heard a small tap on the window. He excused himself and went out to the hall
"what have you got for me Speed?"
"I've got you the link you wanted between Benitez and Cruz - seems like Mr. Benitez has taken a few trips to South America in the past few years - want to guess which company he used?"
"Cruz international?"
"Well, no - the company's name is RCT Travel - but guess who owns it?"
"Roberto Cruz.good work Speed!"
"Whatever he gave you we can top it." Erik showed up behind them "You better come take a look at this H"
*
"What do you have Jamie?" H said as soon as he got in the lab, Speed, Erik and Bailey in toe
"There were traces of blood in the semen sample Erik found in the apartment. I found something weird in the sample - take a look"
Horatio looked through the microscope at the sample - red blood cells, while plates. - but there was something else - something weird.
"What am I looking at?"
"You want the short answer or the long one?"
"Let's start with the short one"
"Well, the short answer is - a virus"
"what's the long answer?" Bailey came over and took his turn looking through the microscope
"The long answer is - a Virus, but I have no idea which one"
Horatio stood outside the room and watched through the glass, waiting. Michael Benitez was sitting at the table, chewing on his nails nervously, his lawyer at his side.
A police officer opened the door and led Roberto Cruz in, his own lawyer in toe.
Horatio looked closely, searching for something in both men's faced, he finally saw it - the small spark of recognition, the small hint of fear that crossed both men's eyes when they saw each other, realizing that the cops were closer to the truth then they thought.
He smiled and picked up his cell phone "Speed, I need you to look for something."
*
Jamie was standing in front of a different glass.
She watched through the small hospital door window as Annie played with some dolls under the watchful eye of the hospital social worker. Mr. and Mrs. Summers were in the next room, talking to the doctor and another social worker.
She took a deep breath and walked in, plastering a fake smile on her face.
"Hello there Annie!" She walked over and sat down on the floor next to the child, from the look in the little girl's face she could tell that the fact that she didn't pull up a chair like the other adult in the room impressed her and that she liked it. That was the thing about working with traumatized children - every little nuance was important.
"My name is Jamie, and I work with Horatio - remember him, the guy with the red hair and funny name from before?"
The little girl giggled a bit, but then became serious "He said he's going to find my brother"
"He's trying, so am I" Jamie assured her and started playing with one of the Barbie dolls herself "Hey, which Barbie is this?"
"It's Malibu Barbie" the girl said shyly, obviously happy at the change of conversation topic "See? She has a bathing suite."
"Have you ever been to Malibu Annie?"
"Yeah, my parents took us."
Jamie already knew all about the family vacation to California last summer, she knew all there was to know about the Summers, she even took another tour in their house before coming here. There was a picture from that vacation in the living room - the four of them, on the beach, smiling brightly at the camera.
She let the girl tell her about it anyway, letting the conversation continue a bit longer until she was sure the little girl was comfortable enough.
"Annie, what about the men that took you and Kyle? Did they bring you anywhere?"
*
"Mr. Benitez, Mr. Cruz - you know why we are here." Horatio started
"I want to know where are my children!" Cruz demanded
"Your children are with social services, they are safe - they're away from you" Yelena commented from her place in the back of the room, leaning against the glass wall.
"I love my children."
"I bet you do" Horatio said dryly "Mr. Benitez here loves children too - not his children but all children, don't you Michael?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" he tried to shrug
"We found your collection, that's a lot of porn tapes you have there Michael, a lot of Kiddie porn, you know that's a felony all by itself? I already have you Michael, I have you for a very long time"
"What does that have anything to do with my client?" Cruz's attorney asked impatiently
"We'll get to that." Horatio cut him off "Right now, I want to talk about Mr. Cruz's special vacations offer to South America"
*
"Erik? Erik? Are you in here?"
"Over here!"
David's head appeared in the doorway "They told me you were here. I thought I'd come over to help"
"Stay out there for a minute" Erik instructed "I have some foot prints here, three different sets, I'm trying to follow the pattern."
"What can I do?"
"Hit the lights"
As the lights went off Erik passed a special lamp over the floor and footprints appeared in green florescent glow. Erik quickly photographed them before the glow disappeared.
They continued working in silent, collecting a few hair samples from the bathroom, and a partial print from the edge of the sink. When they got to the bedroom they used a blue lamp to check for traces of semen on the mattress, there weren't any on the bed but playing a hunch Erik checked the rest of the room as well. There was a chair near the bed and when Erik brought the blue lamp closer he found traces of semen on the carpet next to the chair.
They were in the kitchen when Erik's phone rang, Jamie was on the other end of the line.
"Hey Erik, you finished with the apartment?"
"There's a lot of evidence here James, looks like these guys have been here for a while"
"Well, according to Annie, the man who took Kyle away was in that apartment, he and Kyle spent about an hour together, alone in the bedroom."
"Dammit!" Erik had a sick feeling in his stomach, like he was about to throw up "We found semen in the bedroom, I'll leave David to finish up here and bring it by the lab right away"
"I'll be waiting."
*
Horatio looked up from the two men in front of him when he heard a small tap on the window. He excused himself and went out to the hall
"what have you got for me Speed?"
"I've got you the link you wanted between Benitez and Cruz - seems like Mr. Benitez has taken a few trips to South America in the past few years - want to guess which company he used?"
"Cruz international?"
"Well, no - the company's name is RCT Travel - but guess who owns it?"
"Roberto Cruz.good work Speed!"
"Whatever he gave you we can top it." Erik showed up behind them "You better come take a look at this H"
*
"What do you have Jamie?" H said as soon as he got in the lab, Speed, Erik and Bailey in toe
"There were traces of blood in the semen sample Erik found in the apartment. I found something weird in the sample - take a look"
Horatio looked through the microscope at the sample - red blood cells, while plates. - but there was something else - something weird.
"What am I looking at?"
"You want the short answer or the long one?"
"Let's start with the short one"
"Well, the short answer is - a virus"
"what's the long answer?" Bailey came over and took his turn looking through the microscope
"The long answer is - a Virus, but I have no idea which one"