2. IT ISN'T OVER.
Lt. Horatio Caine left the University building around six P.M. The place seemed deserted, classes having long ended that day. His conversation with Dean Hernandez had taken nearly two hours, but had been fruitful.
The Dean had discussed his major concerns about Metzger's students with the Miami crime scene investigator and together they had talked through some plans of action.
Caine's previous jobs had provided him with lots of contacts and he was glad he could hand the Dean some names and phone numbers. This was really out of the University's league and it required some specialists to help the class deal with the trauma.
After shaking hands Joseph Hernandez sincerely thanked Caine for his help and promised to keep him posted.
Now, Horatio put on his shades and walked over to the Hummer, fully intending to drive home and hit the sack early that night.
Across the parking lot, a young woman got up from the bench she had been sitting on and approached the red-haired man. "Lieutenant!"
Horatio turned around. He immediately recognized the small fragile posture of Ginny Taylor, the student whose dog had been tortured to death under the Professor's care. "Well, hello. Ginny, wasn't it?"
"Yes, that's right. I was wondering... could I talk to you about something?"
The girl seemed nervous, which, after recent events, wasn't really a surprise. Horatio threw her an encouraging smile. "Of course," he started and lifted a hand to take off his sunglasses.
The girl moved her hand, quickly, shoving her electrical taser forcefully into the Lieutenant's midsection.
Despite the burning and stunning effect of the taser, Caine immediately blocked the attack by pushing the young woman's hand away. His beloved sunglasses fell to the ground and Horatio staggered back, slightly bent over in order to protect the damaged area.
In the meantime, two shadows jumped from behind the Hummer.
Caine spun around, avoided the first man coming at him from the right but unfortunately tumbled straight into the direction of the second man.
Strong arms grabbed him and a piece of cloth was pressed into his face. Horatio registered the sweet odor, and knew instantly what it was and what it would do. His heart already missed a beat and his knees buckled from the overwhelming bout of dizziness.
Then, all went black and he neither noticed the car driving towards them, nor felt that he was being lifted into the back before the vehicle left the scene all together.
XXX-XXX-XXX
Horatio Caine woke up with a headache. He was lying on his left side on a cold, hard floor. His jacket and shirt were gone, leaving him in his bare torso. His hands were bound behind his back, and his ankles were also tightly secured. Luckily, he thought, they'd left his trousers on.
With the nausea plaguing him it took him a while to realize that he was blindfolded as well.
That left a couple of senses for him to use, his hearing, his scent and his gut feeling.
The first told him he was alone, wherever he was. He assumed he wasn't in Miami, as a city made more noise than he was picking up, unless of course he was in a sound-proof room. The vague noises that he did pick up told him however that he was somewhere out in the country.
Picking up the scent of oak, he figured he was inside some wooden cabin. Then the charcoal told him a fire was used here to either heat up the place or for cooking purposes. This only confirmed his earlier assumption that he was not in Miami.
His gut feeling told him he was in trouble. He remembered the attack now. First, the young woman stunning him with her taser, then the two men jumping at him from both sides.
Truth to be told, they had taken him completely by surprise. Horatio also realized the attack had been simple and well-executed. He'd had no chance at all.
What did they want from him? More importantly, when would his team start missing him?
Thinking this over, Caine was already trying to loosen the knots around his wrists.
Speed and Eric had been at a crime scene. When they would return, they would assume their boss had gone home for the night. He'd sent Calleigh home, and told her he would see her next morning. He had even told Alexx he would go home after visiting Dean Hernandez at the University.
The rope didn't give. To make matters worse, it started cutting deeper into his skin.
He was in trouble and only the next day would his team start looking for him. He was completely on his own.
