Chapter 8
Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. Mild language, violence.
Summary: Everything comes crashing down. Will Speed get to Calleigh in time? Read on...
Chapter 8
The ride to the lab was excruciating for Speed . He glanced at his watch several times , knowing that with each minute, Calleigh could be closer to being found, or she could be dying a slow death. He nervously handled his cell phone as the cabbie gave furtive glances from the rearview mirror, he had many a maniac in his cab, this guy was nothing different. As he flipped the phone down, Speed saw as the cab pulled in the parking lot of the lab. He paid the cabbie for the trip and tipped him. The cabbie smiled and pulled away.
Entering the building, he saw Tyler as he waited at the receptionist's desk.
" Speedle, Whatcha need?" Tyler asked easily. " You are lucky you caught me."
" You can trace a call from cell phone to cell phone right?"Speed asked as he pulled his cell phone out.
" Depends on how long the call was."
" It wasn't long, I 'm afraid," Speed replied defeated. His hope dwindled more as he stood there.
" I got some tricks I could try, though. C'mon, I can see that this is important," Tyler said walking to the elevators. " I'm willing to wager that it has something to do with Calleigh."
Speed smiled lightly at Tyler and nodded, " She called me from where ever she is, but the connection was bad. She fizzled out before I could get a location. I got to find her." He looked at his watch, 8:15.
Almost an hour later, Tyler had nailed down the location using the GPS tracker in Calleigh's cell phone. He thanked Tyler , as he got up and left the room. He moved fast, collecting his field kit and the keys to one of the Hummers. He checked his side arm, just in case he was going to have to use it. He then put the Hummer in drive and sped out of the parking lot, headed out of the city limits. He was going to get Calleigh back.
S/C
The darkness of night had fallen through the house, and for the first time since her child hood , Calleigh Duquense was scared. She stood in the middle of the kitchen for almost an hour, unable to think of where to go. She certainly didn't want to go back into the room she escaped out of ,but she knew that she couldn't be around when he came home. She shook off her fear then began looking for something to arm herself with, she would not go without a fight. She had something to live for. Hearing his voice for that short amount of time, renewed her strength. She continued to replay the groggy voice she had heard in her mind. She couldn't wait to hold him again. It was with that thought, she suddenly heard a car pull up. She ran into a the closest room unaware of what was in it , for she had not been given a tour of the home when she got there. She closed the door just as she heard another door swing open. In the darkness, she trembled at the thought of him finding her.She didn't find anything to defend herself with , she felt like a sitting duck, tucked in a pitch black room. Calliegh heard his anger as he bellowed out. He had likely found her missing from her prison.
Calleigh backed into a corner hearing as Therrin's footsteps went from one room to the next. It would be a matter of time until he found her. She continued to slowly back up ,feeling her way as so not to fall and draw attention. Something stopped her progress and her fingers tickled over the obstacle and it felt clammy and cool so she stopped moving. What is this, Calleigh thought to herself. She swung around to face the wall and used her hands to do what her eyes couldn't. Her hands traced up the fabric , it feeling hard and crusty. She then continued to move her hands up until ,they rested on something. In horror she realized that she was feeling someone's face. Calliegh backed up quickly, toppling over the leg of the bed and falling. She sat there in pain, sure that he had heard that. Tears came quickly as she touched her ankle, it was broken. She tried to crawl under the old bed as she heard his footsteps come closer, her mind reeling.
" Calleigh, I know you are in there," Therrin said his voice eerily calm. " I'm pretty sure you've met my ex- girlfriend. She's been hanging around, for quite sometime. You see, she didn't like all the attention that I gave her, all the love..." The knob turned. " She wanted to leave . Much like you do." Door cracking open. " I couldn't help myself, Calleigh. I loved her more than I could stand. In the end, I couldn't let her go. Just like I can't let you go."
Calleigh screamed as he burst through the door and grabbed her by her ankles. The pain in her broken ankle was much more than she could bear, and she fainted under the intensity of it. Therrin picked her up and walked out of the room, whistling.
S/C
Speed put on the lights, thinking that it would give him free reign over the highways, but he was mistaken. Noone even paid a moments notice to the Hummer as they slowly made their way to their destinations. He cursed out of frustration as an elderly couple in a Buick Skylark pulled out in front of him.
"Dammit!"Speed said as he slammed on his brakes. He heard his phone chirp to life. Knowing who it was before he answered, he sighed heavily as he flipped the phone open. " Speedle."
" Speed , what the hell are you doing? Where are you?" Horatio said roughly.
"I'm going to get Calleigh, and I'm in the middle of traffic on the Biscayne," Speed replied dryly.
"Ever heard of back up? You don't know what you are getting yourself into. You don't know the entire story. You're not prepared," Horatio scolded.
" Is that code for 'you probably didn't clean your gun '? I got a call from her, H. She's alive, and I know where she's at. I'm going to get her." He replied before he honked his horn. " Dammit, move!"
" Tyler gave us the address. Eric and I are on the way, patrol will back us up. Speed?"
" Yeah , H?"
" Be careful. I don't want to have to put two CSI's in the ground," Horatio said quietly before hanging up.
Speed flipped the phone down and watched as the elderly couple inched forward. As soon as he got a little space in between him and the Buick, he turned the wheel sharply and got into the next lane. He passed them with a pained smile on his face, then barreled down the causeway. The scenery passed him rapidly and he remained focused on the head lights that shone on the black pavement. Soon the pavement turned into a dusty dirt road and Speed felt his stomach knot up as his heart dropped. His phone chirped again , causing Speed to lose his focus.
" Horatio, I'm a big boy, I..."
" Tim..." came a voice. It was weak.
" Cal? Is that you honey? Are you okay? Calleigh?" Speed said gripping the wheel. He didn't like the sound of her weak voice. Then out of nowhere a piercing scream came from the phone. Speed held the phone tighter and yelled " Calliegh!"
" You going to be her knight in shining armor, Speed? Well you better hurry, I don't think she's gonna last," a voice said coldly.
" Therrin, if you've hurt her..." Speed said through clinched teeth.
" I can't hurt her, I love her. She wanted to leave but I couldn't. Now she'll be mine forever. In a few minutes, eternity will claim her. Join us if you like," Therrin replied as he hung up the phone.
Speed threw the phone on the opposite seat of the Hummer and stepped on the gas. Luckily , he was only ten minutes away from where Tyler tracked the GPS signal. He floored the Hummer even more, hoping to make it five minutes.
S/C
Therrin looked at Calleigh as she sat on the couch. Her once luxurious long blond hair was now raggedly cut stained with dirt and blood. She had several cuts on her face and a swollen lip from the beating he gave her after pulling her out of the room and she had lost weight since being with him. She was hardly the Calleigh he had fallen in love with at the Bistro, but nonetheless, he loved her. She was the only one who didn't look down on him. He smiled at the memory of those encounters. He then thought about what she had said to him weeks back." I 'm in love That man, my boyfriend, has made me the happiest I've ever been. I don't know you from a can of paint." At the remembrance of those words, Therrin walked over to Calleigh and grabbed her wrist. He snatched the gauze from it angrily and slashed the stitches. Not so happy now are we, he thought. He walked away from her, seething.
Pacing he saw as she weakly opened her eyes, " Why, Calliegh? Why couldn't you let me love you? Why did you make me do this?"
Calliegh rolled her head down and attempted to grasp hold of the wrist that was bleeding. She was fading fast. Blood flowed down her hand and pooled on her pants. A part of her wanted to give in to the darkness, but another part, the part that loved Tim, fought to keep her conscious.
She barely noticed as Therrin had stopped pacing and ran to look out of the windows.
" Your boyfriend's here," Therrin said pulling out a gun from under his shirt. Calleigh tried to say something but her words were lost. Therrin turned off the lights and picked up Calleigh. He heard her labored breathing and smiled to himself. She was on the brink of eternity, and soon her boyfriend would join her.
S/C
He pulled up to the driveway of the old house and turned off his lights. He then took a moment to call Horatio. Calleigh had sounded really bad, and Speed wanted to make sure that she could be taken care of.
" Caine."
" H, it's me."
" Where are you?" Horatio said cautiously.
" I'm sitting at the driveway. I just wanted to see if you had any rescues coming with you," Tim said almost letting his emotions boil over.
" The location was right on the border of Miami -Dade city limits, so I called the county to make sure that they would get there faster. We are about five minutes from you." Horatio replied. Speed heard the sirens faintly.
" I can't wait, H. I'm going to get her. Back me up when you get here." Speed said hanging up the phone before Horatio could protest. He then drove slowly up to the house , noticing as the lights suddenly went out.
Getting out of the Hummer, Speed placed a hand on his sidearm and un buckled the holster. There was no doubt that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice, he had been cleaning his gun regularly . He walked to the back of the Hummer and retrieved the big black flashlight. He shut the hatch to the Hummer then breathed in deeply. He was ready to get her back.
He turned on the light and noticed as the front door was ajar. He proceeded slowly up the stairs of the porch and walked in the foyer. Instantly he felt a sense of deja'vu. He saw the blood stains on the wall and the floor. Filling his hand with his gun, he swept the powerful beam around the hallway. As if working on instinct, Speed made a left turn which led him to another hallway. He steadied the light as he brought his gun up in front of him. Slowly , he made his way to the back of the hallway where a door was ajar. The house was deathly silent and musty.
Pushing the door open, his eyes fell on the bed. Something was covered with a sheet. He let the light beam dance on the sheet, afraid of what he would find. He walked quickly to the bed and snatched the sheet off. Under the sheet, Calliegh's face jumped back at him. He dropped the light and moved to embrace her. He saw the bloody wrist and tied a piece of his shirt to it to stop the flow. She stirred slightly, feeling a tight arm over her chest. She started to struggle weakly and Speed let go of her.
" Calliegh, It's me, Tim. I'm here to get you out . Calleigh, can you hear me baby? Don't you die on me. I love you. Don't you leave me again, " he said moving to pick her up.
" Tim..." Calleigh said weakly opening her eyes. " He's got..."
" What?" Tim asked as he stood with her. He heard the floor boards creak. He gently set Calliegh down on the bed and grabbed his gun . Calleigh sat up trying to focus. Before he could turn around, Speed heard the gun shot and felt a white hot sensation tear into his chest. Calleigh screamed loudly and looked at Speed as he fell to his knees. In the dim light that shone through the window, Calleigh saw his brown eyes as they held a sadness that she couldn't bear to look at.
Therrin turned on the light to admire his work, then moved quickly to the bed, stepping over his body. He grabbed Calliegh roughly by the wrists and pulled her off of the bed, "So much for your knight in shining armor. He didn't put up much of a fight for you."
Calleigh struggled to free herself glancing down at the blood that was pooling underneath Speed.
Her heart broke to see him lying there. Before Therrin turned her around, she saw a hint of movement from Speed as he wrapped his fingers around his gun. Therrin pulled her towards the door saying, " Time to go my sweet, Calleigh. Eternity awaits."
Calleigh limped on her bad ankle behind Therrin as he pulled her. Therrin yanked at Calliegh's wrist making the blood seep through Speed's shirt. He made it down the hallway and turned to go into the foyer, when he heard a voice, " Hey! Casanova, let her go." Speed leaned up against the wall to steady himself and save his energy. He heard the sirens as they approached the house.
" How is that possible? I shot you. You should be dead," Therrin returned.
" No shit," Speed returned. He lifted his gun and steadied it , blood staining his hand. " Let her go, Therrin and you might have a chance to spend the rest of your life in a nice comfy padded cell." Speed moved forward ever so slightly, switching on the lights as he continued to lay against the wall. The light startled Therrin and he lost his grip on Calleigh sending her to the ground. Before Therrin could point his gun, Speed fired, sending bullets to pierce his chest and head. Therrin was in eternity before his body hit the floor, eyes wide seeing nothing.
Speed lowered his gun and let it drop to the floor. He saw Calleigh's rumpled body on the floor and walked weakly to it , stumbling. He knelt down and took her in his arms. Tears dropped as he pushed her hair back away from her face. He felt for a pulse on her neck, finding one he smiled at her. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, feeling the love in his warm brown eyes.
" Hi , handsome," she said weakly.
" Hi beautiful. You know, you're a hard person to track down," Speed said breathlessly. He slumped a little as he heard Horatio barking orders from the porch.
" You're hurt."
" Yeah I noticed," Speed said drifting ,losing conscience.
" Speed? Honey..." Calleigh said with tears in her voice.
TBC... sorry to leave you guys hanging. I promise to finish this. Let me know if you want more of this story line in a sequel.