Well, thank you all for waiting and being patient!!! This chapter is a
little longer than usual - I just had a lot to put in for this chapter and
I wrote so many good scenes for this chapter I just couldn't bring myself
to cut any of them out of the final draft - so hope you don't mind it being
a little bit longer than usual
Hope you enjoy - and send me your reviews!!! I really could use the feedback!!!
PART 14
"Hey Erik?" David's head appeared in the doorway "Can we talk for a second?"
"What's going on?"
David walked into the room and Erik noticed that he was checking around, making sure there was no one close by, he wondered for a second what was the reason for the "Covert op" attitude all of the sudden. "I wanted to give you a heads up on something. a professional curtsey"
"David, what's going on?"
"Evens is in Cruz's house right now."
"What's he doing there?" Erik was instantly on his feet "Calleigh is on her way there right now to analyze the scene."
"I know" David shrugged "He wanted to be there first and search the place first."
"What's going on David? What's Evens trying to pull?"
"I don't know anything Erik" David said weakly "I'm an FBI forensic specialist, he doesn't exactly let me into the loop"
"Damn it!" Erik slammed his fist down on the table "This is just great! We have a kid missing out there and this guy is turning this into a jurisdiction fight" he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"I just wanted to give you a heads up" David sounded apologetic "I could loose my job for even telling you that"
"I know" Erik sighed, knowing David should not be the target of his anger "Don't worry, I'm not going to get you involved."
David nodded silently and left the room quietly, knowing there was nothing more to say. Erik sat back at his desk and picked up the phone - this was one conversation he wasn't eager to make.
*
Alexx was on her way to her office when Horatio joined her in the hall, easily falling in step along side her "Alexx, I'm going to need a favor." He was shooting glances over her shoulder as he spoke and when she followed his gaze she saw Agent Evens standing at the other side of the hallway, briefing some of his men "Jamie has a virus she needs to identify and she could use your medical expertise."
"Ok, but you wanna tell me what this is really about?"
Horatio ducked his head and smiled, he should have known by now that there was no way he could ever hide anything from Alexx. "I'm going to sound a little stupid, but I'm going to need you to babysit Jamie for a while"
"I'm still listening." she crossed her arms on her chest, giving him a look that said he was going to need more then that to convince her.
"I'm having a little disagreement with the FBI right now and I have a feeling Evens and his people are getting a little antsy - I'm thinking he's going to try and go over my head."
Alexx cast a glance at Agent Evens down the hall again, noticing that he was done briefing his men and was now looking at her and Horatio, the look on his face relayed way too much interest in the conversation and he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it.
She nodded back at Horatio and squeezed his arm "I'll do my best."
*
Hagen and Calleigh parked the car in front of the house and stepped out quickly.
"I thought there was no one left here except for a few police uniforms?" Calleigh asked in confusion. Hagen's expression mirrored her own.
The house was supposed to be empty - the kids were taken to children services, the wife was at the police station and Roberto Cruz himself was sitting at the CSI investigation room. There was a policeman left at the door to keep people away - but other than that there wasn't supposed to be anyone there.
Instead, there were about a dozen cars parked outside, and men coming and going in and out of the house. Most of them carrying boxes and bags tagged as evidence.
Just then Hagen's phone rang.
"It's Horatio" he handed the phone over to her.
"Get in there and take what you can Calleigh.then get back here"
"Horatio what's going on? Who.."
He didn't let her finish the sentence "Evens, he got a federal warrant to get in there before we did."
"H, Everything I get out of this house is going to be inadmissible - it's all going to be tampered evidence now"
"I know, get what you can and get back here.I'll take care of Agent Evens"
*
"Evens!!!!"
Horatio didn't usually shout. Anybody who ever worked with him knew that. It wasn't that he never got angry - working in the line of work they did, seeing the things they did, you couldn't help getting angry every now and then. But he never yelled, on the contrary, he would talk quietly and slowly, like he wanted to make sure you understood every word.
But now he was yelling.
"What the hell are you trying to do? What the hell gave you the right to go into that crime scene before my forensics team?"
"Horatio" Bailey;s voice remained neutral "If we're going to conduct this conversation would you mind not doing it here in the hall?"
Horatio clenched his teeth but followed Evens into the nearest lab
"I had a federal court order allowing me to be there Lieutenant Cain, I don't have to ask for your permission" Bailey said in a raised voice before Horatio was even all the way into the room.
Horatio was about to answer back when Speed's head shot up, appearing just above the desk from where he was lying on the couch, mumbling "I'm up, I'm up.."
Horatio and Bailey both became quiet and looked at him quizzically as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, and got up - heading over to the desk again. "I just finished going over the Hitchcomb file again - there's nothing there that could help us.It's all dead ends"
"That's assuming we got everything on Hitchcomb." Horatio said, loud enough for Bailey to hear
"Are you suggesting I'm deliberately holding out information crucial to this investigation?" Bailey asked angrily
"Wouldn't be a first time would it?" Horatio retorted sarcastically
"It was an official FBI undercover operation, there was no reason for you to know the details, there was no reason for me to jeopardize a case that has been in play for over a year."
"You wanna go tell that to Mr. and Mrs. Summers? We could have had that kid back hours ago!"
"I don't work for you Lieutenant Caine, I don't owe you an explanation!"
"No, but when we find Kyle Summers you might owe one to him."
"This case is under FBI jurisdiction, we run the show! We're using you team as a mean of convenience to make this case go more efficiently - but don't try to blame you incompetence on me. We can decide to take you and your team off this case whenever we want - don't you forget that"
The phone rang and Speed picked it up, his eyes still fixed on the two man glaring each other down. He listened for a few seconds and then placed the phone back in it's cradle "That was Alexx - she and Jamie have something for us"
*
"So what have you got for us on the virus?"
"Actually, we're still waiting for Alexx for a minute" Jamie replied "She's on the phone"
"Did you identify the virus?" Bailey pressed and Jamie exchanged a look between him and Horatio - there was a vibe between the two men that she didn't like, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was
"We did" Alexx came back into the room along with Calleigh and Erik "I just got off the phone with a friend of mine that works at the CDC, we went to med school together. The virus we have is a unique strand of Malaria, he says that every strand of the disease can be traced back to a specific region and this strand - it comes from Africa. Namibia to be more accurate."
"So we're looking for someone who went to Namibia and got Malaria."
"Well not exactly" Alexx continued her show and tell "I sent him a few enhanced microscopic images of this ivrus and he says that what we're looking at isn't in fact a virus - it's a vaccine."
"it makes sense" Jamie explained "Vaccines are often made out of a weakened form of the actual virus, it allows the body to create natural antibodies for the virus without the person showing symptoms of the actual disease"
"How long do these Vaccines stay in the blood stream?" Horatio asked, his mind already racing to adjust all the information and figure out what it means for the case
"Usually a couple of months - maybe three months - at the most" Alexx replied "My friend also said that everybody traveling to Namibia is required by the stated department to take a vaccine like that before they travel"
"So we're looking for someone who's been to Namibia, in the last three month" Delko concluded
"It doesn't help us much" Speed sighed "You know how many travel agencies there are in Miami? How many flights leave Miami for Africa every day? It's a needle in a hay stack."
"Most people don't change travel agencies, it's like a bank or a dentist" Jamie shrugged "If this guy is using Roberto Cruz's agency for his other travel needs he might be using the same company for all of it"
"We have Cruz's home and office computers - there's probably a client list on one of them" Calleigh volunteered from her place against the doorway
"Check it out Call'" Horatio ordered "This might be the lead we were looking for"
*
"Hey Calleigh, I've got some coffee here for you." Tyler smiled as soon as she walked into the computer lab.
"Oh god! You're an angel!" She sighed and dropped herself into a chair next to him
"How many hours have you guys been up anyway?"
"All I know is that I'm way to tiered to even calculate that right now" Calleigh scummbed to the urge to stretch and grabbed the coffee "What have you got for me Taylor?"
"Well, you asked me to look for a client list on the computers so I've been going through the files on the computer you brought back from Cruz's home and the one we got earlier from his office - there's something interesting you should see."
"What is it?"
"Well, we have the client list from the office right here" he pulled up a file on the screen "and then there was a copy of it on the home computer" another file identical to the first appeared on a second screen.
"So he had a copy at home - not exactly the discovery of the century" Calleigh teased
"You give me absolutly no credit!" Tayler teased back "There's another file on the home computer, another client list, only this one was passward protected and encrypted. It didn't take much, this isn't exactly Enigma if you know what I mean. anyway, I managed to unscramble it. And this list isn't identical to the other two lists - it's a different list."
Calleigh leaned in closer and took a more careful look of the three lists -the third list was obviously different - the names were different and written in some kind of abbreviation and so were the dates, account numbers, destination and prices "I thought you said you got rid of the encryption."
"I did, this isn't encryption - it's some kind of short hand or something. The guy is not a fool" Tyler shrugged
"Ok, you know what, print me up a copy of these, will you? I'll go over them"
Hope you enjoy - and send me your reviews!!! I really could use the feedback!!!
PART 14
"Hey Erik?" David's head appeared in the doorway "Can we talk for a second?"
"What's going on?"
David walked into the room and Erik noticed that he was checking around, making sure there was no one close by, he wondered for a second what was the reason for the "Covert op" attitude all of the sudden. "I wanted to give you a heads up on something. a professional curtsey"
"David, what's going on?"
"Evens is in Cruz's house right now."
"What's he doing there?" Erik was instantly on his feet "Calleigh is on her way there right now to analyze the scene."
"I know" David shrugged "He wanted to be there first and search the place first."
"What's going on David? What's Evens trying to pull?"
"I don't know anything Erik" David said weakly "I'm an FBI forensic specialist, he doesn't exactly let me into the loop"
"Damn it!" Erik slammed his fist down on the table "This is just great! We have a kid missing out there and this guy is turning this into a jurisdiction fight" he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"I just wanted to give you a heads up" David sounded apologetic "I could loose my job for even telling you that"
"I know" Erik sighed, knowing David should not be the target of his anger "Don't worry, I'm not going to get you involved."
David nodded silently and left the room quietly, knowing there was nothing more to say. Erik sat back at his desk and picked up the phone - this was one conversation he wasn't eager to make.
*
Alexx was on her way to her office when Horatio joined her in the hall, easily falling in step along side her "Alexx, I'm going to need a favor." He was shooting glances over her shoulder as he spoke and when she followed his gaze she saw Agent Evens standing at the other side of the hallway, briefing some of his men "Jamie has a virus she needs to identify and she could use your medical expertise."
"Ok, but you wanna tell me what this is really about?"
Horatio ducked his head and smiled, he should have known by now that there was no way he could ever hide anything from Alexx. "I'm going to sound a little stupid, but I'm going to need you to babysit Jamie for a while"
"I'm still listening." she crossed her arms on her chest, giving him a look that said he was going to need more then that to convince her.
"I'm having a little disagreement with the FBI right now and I have a feeling Evens and his people are getting a little antsy - I'm thinking he's going to try and go over my head."
Alexx cast a glance at Agent Evens down the hall again, noticing that he was done briefing his men and was now looking at her and Horatio, the look on his face relayed way too much interest in the conversation and he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it.
She nodded back at Horatio and squeezed his arm "I'll do my best."
*
Hagen and Calleigh parked the car in front of the house and stepped out quickly.
"I thought there was no one left here except for a few police uniforms?" Calleigh asked in confusion. Hagen's expression mirrored her own.
The house was supposed to be empty - the kids were taken to children services, the wife was at the police station and Roberto Cruz himself was sitting at the CSI investigation room. There was a policeman left at the door to keep people away - but other than that there wasn't supposed to be anyone there.
Instead, there were about a dozen cars parked outside, and men coming and going in and out of the house. Most of them carrying boxes and bags tagged as evidence.
Just then Hagen's phone rang.
"It's Horatio" he handed the phone over to her.
"Get in there and take what you can Calleigh.then get back here"
"Horatio what's going on? Who.."
He didn't let her finish the sentence "Evens, he got a federal warrant to get in there before we did."
"H, Everything I get out of this house is going to be inadmissible - it's all going to be tampered evidence now"
"I know, get what you can and get back here.I'll take care of Agent Evens"
*
"Evens!!!!"
Horatio didn't usually shout. Anybody who ever worked with him knew that. It wasn't that he never got angry - working in the line of work they did, seeing the things they did, you couldn't help getting angry every now and then. But he never yelled, on the contrary, he would talk quietly and slowly, like he wanted to make sure you understood every word.
But now he was yelling.
"What the hell are you trying to do? What the hell gave you the right to go into that crime scene before my forensics team?"
"Horatio" Bailey;s voice remained neutral "If we're going to conduct this conversation would you mind not doing it here in the hall?"
Horatio clenched his teeth but followed Evens into the nearest lab
"I had a federal court order allowing me to be there Lieutenant Cain, I don't have to ask for your permission" Bailey said in a raised voice before Horatio was even all the way into the room.
Horatio was about to answer back when Speed's head shot up, appearing just above the desk from where he was lying on the couch, mumbling "I'm up, I'm up.."
Horatio and Bailey both became quiet and looked at him quizzically as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, and got up - heading over to the desk again. "I just finished going over the Hitchcomb file again - there's nothing there that could help us.It's all dead ends"
"That's assuming we got everything on Hitchcomb." Horatio said, loud enough for Bailey to hear
"Are you suggesting I'm deliberately holding out information crucial to this investigation?" Bailey asked angrily
"Wouldn't be a first time would it?" Horatio retorted sarcastically
"It was an official FBI undercover operation, there was no reason for you to know the details, there was no reason for me to jeopardize a case that has been in play for over a year."
"You wanna go tell that to Mr. and Mrs. Summers? We could have had that kid back hours ago!"
"I don't work for you Lieutenant Caine, I don't owe you an explanation!"
"No, but when we find Kyle Summers you might owe one to him."
"This case is under FBI jurisdiction, we run the show! We're using you team as a mean of convenience to make this case go more efficiently - but don't try to blame you incompetence on me. We can decide to take you and your team off this case whenever we want - don't you forget that"
The phone rang and Speed picked it up, his eyes still fixed on the two man glaring each other down. He listened for a few seconds and then placed the phone back in it's cradle "That was Alexx - she and Jamie have something for us"
*
"So what have you got for us on the virus?"
"Actually, we're still waiting for Alexx for a minute" Jamie replied "She's on the phone"
"Did you identify the virus?" Bailey pressed and Jamie exchanged a look between him and Horatio - there was a vibe between the two men that she didn't like, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was
"We did" Alexx came back into the room along with Calleigh and Erik "I just got off the phone with a friend of mine that works at the CDC, we went to med school together. The virus we have is a unique strand of Malaria, he says that every strand of the disease can be traced back to a specific region and this strand - it comes from Africa. Namibia to be more accurate."
"So we're looking for someone who went to Namibia and got Malaria."
"Well not exactly" Alexx continued her show and tell "I sent him a few enhanced microscopic images of this ivrus and he says that what we're looking at isn't in fact a virus - it's a vaccine."
"it makes sense" Jamie explained "Vaccines are often made out of a weakened form of the actual virus, it allows the body to create natural antibodies for the virus without the person showing symptoms of the actual disease"
"How long do these Vaccines stay in the blood stream?" Horatio asked, his mind already racing to adjust all the information and figure out what it means for the case
"Usually a couple of months - maybe three months - at the most" Alexx replied "My friend also said that everybody traveling to Namibia is required by the stated department to take a vaccine like that before they travel"
"So we're looking for someone who's been to Namibia, in the last three month" Delko concluded
"It doesn't help us much" Speed sighed "You know how many travel agencies there are in Miami? How many flights leave Miami for Africa every day? It's a needle in a hay stack."
"Most people don't change travel agencies, it's like a bank or a dentist" Jamie shrugged "If this guy is using Roberto Cruz's agency for his other travel needs he might be using the same company for all of it"
"We have Cruz's home and office computers - there's probably a client list on one of them" Calleigh volunteered from her place against the doorway
"Check it out Call'" Horatio ordered "This might be the lead we were looking for"
*
"Hey Calleigh, I've got some coffee here for you." Tyler smiled as soon as she walked into the computer lab.
"Oh god! You're an angel!" She sighed and dropped herself into a chair next to him
"How many hours have you guys been up anyway?"
"All I know is that I'm way to tiered to even calculate that right now" Calleigh scummbed to the urge to stretch and grabbed the coffee "What have you got for me Taylor?"
"Well, you asked me to look for a client list on the computers so I've been going through the files on the computer you brought back from Cruz's home and the one we got earlier from his office - there's something interesting you should see."
"What is it?"
"Well, we have the client list from the office right here" he pulled up a file on the screen "and then there was a copy of it on the home computer" another file identical to the first appeared on a second screen.
"So he had a copy at home - not exactly the discovery of the century" Calleigh teased
"You give me absolutly no credit!" Tayler teased back "There's another file on the home computer, another client list, only this one was passward protected and encrypted. It didn't take much, this isn't exactly Enigma if you know what I mean. anyway, I managed to unscramble it. And this list isn't identical to the other two lists - it's a different list."
Calleigh leaned in closer and took a more careful look of the three lists -the third list was obviously different - the names were different and written in some kind of abbreviation and so were the dates, account numbers, destination and prices "I thought you said you got rid of the encryption."
"I did, this isn't encryption - it's some kind of short hand or something. The guy is not a fool" Tyler shrugged
"Ok, you know what, print me up a copy of these, will you? I'll go over them"