What Lies Beneath
Chapter 6
Sienna continued to stare at the screen, her eyes not believing what she saw. Her parents were supposed to be dead, yet here were their pictures . In an active file. She continued to scan the file, gathering the particulars of the case. She read that they had offered to go under to help the feds catch gun runners hiding out in Miami. Anger rose in her when she also read the updates, seeing that they had a little four year old, Katilyn Samatha Speedle. A four year old? Sienna thought. At the end of the file , she read the names of contacts. A lot of them were people she had never heard of, but one stuck out in her mind. She slammed her fist on the desk, hitting it hard , sending a mountain of paper work to the floor. As she picked up the papers, she saw a piece of paper sticking out from a drawer. She tried the drawer , but it was locked. Knowing that Horatio was a careful man , she didn't even try to look for the keys, they'd likely be with him. She tried to slip the paper out of the desk without tearing. When she was successful, she looked at it seeing only numbers. Folding the paper up, she picked up the papers and slipped out of the office. She was going to get to the bottom of this.
SS
Horatio knew that someone had been in his office, even as he stepped into it. He had left his blinds open, and now they were closed. He also noticed the papers on his desk had been spread out and not in a neat pile as they had been left. He sighed heavily and went to the computer and retraced the keystrokes. As he did so, the files popped up in descending order, finally resting on the pictures of Speed and Calleigh. He then unlocked his desk. Seeing that the piece of paper was gone, he cursed softly to himself and slammed the desk close. He knew who had been here , and he hoped that he could make it to her before she did something. He was about to leave his office when his cell phone rang.
" Caine," he stated simply.
" H, it's me. We have to talk."
"Do tell. I got the DNA analysis back. What was she thinking?"
" She was up against the wall. Things are getting kind of heated," Tim said breathing deeply. The stress of this was getting to him.
" And you were there too. You should know better! Never leave evidence behind if you are trying to stay undetected. You of all people should know that!" Horatio said closing his eyes.
" I know. But you can scold me later. I just wanted to call to ask you a favor. Hold off the investigation for a day or two."
" What?" Horatio asked . He couldn't believe what was being said to him. " How am I supposed to do that? I've got the entire team including your daughter, working this."
" Hold it off. At least until we clear this, which I have been assured by the feds , will be very soon."
" You are trusting the feds now?"
" I have no choice here, H. We are at their mercy, for the moment."
Horatio started to tell him about Sienna , but he thought better of it. Instead he said, " I'll see what I can do. I got to go, something's come up."
" Thanks, H. For everything," Tim said as he hung up.
Horatio finally walked out of his door, hoping that she hadn't done anything to jeopardize everything.
SS
Getting to her townhouse, Sienna raced up the stairs to her room and threw her bag on to the floor. Taking her gun out of her holster, she sat at her computer and pulled out her cell phone along with the piece of paper she found in his office. As she was dialing the number, she heard her phone ring. Looking at the caller id, she saw his number. Disgusted, she threw the phone on her bed and put the cell to her ear. She heard a series of clicks then a woman answered the on the other end. She thought to hang up , but she pressed on.
" Calleigh Duquense please," Sienna said sweetly. She didn't know why she had said her mother's maiden name, it just came tumbling out.
" One moment , please," the woman said connecting. Sienna heard another series of clicks then some one picked up.
" Hello."
Sienna froze. The voice drew tears out of her eyes.
" Hello? Who is this?" Tim asked.
Sienna cleared her throat and tried her best to put on the most masculine voice she had, " Speed."
" Sackhiem? What do you want?" Tim asked a bit wary. The voice didn't sound like his , but he figured only two people had this number, and this definitely didn't sound like Horatio.
" I need to meet you," Sienna said.
" Well come to the house. That's what you always do, isn't it? Right when Katie is sleeping , may I add." Tim said sarcastically.
At the name of the little girl, Sienna almost dropped the phone. They have already forgotten about Simone and me, she thought. She kept up the rouse , " We need to meet in the regular place."
" Why at the grill?"
" Dammit, Speedle! Just meet me there. Bring Calleigh too," Sienna replied, she couldn't believe she was doing this.
" Alright, Alright. We'll be there, say in about ten minutes," Tim said as he held the phone. " You remember how to get there? We haven't been there in so long."
" Humor me, Speedle," Sienna said as she took out a pen. She couldn't believe her father was falling for this. There was no way she was passing as a man over the phone. It must have been a bad connection.
" Okay," Tim said getting suspicious. True, the feds were the most idiotic people on the planet, but surely they would remember how to get to a meeting place. He played along and gave the directions.
Sienna wrote down everything and then said, " Okay, ten minutes. And don't be late."
" You too, Sackhiem."
Sienna held her breath as she heard her mother's voice on the other end as he hung up the phone. She then threw her cell on the bed and cried. They were alive. Feeling betrayed and relieved at the same time , she wiped her face off and grabbed her cell phone putting it in her pocket. She then put her gun back in the holster and left. As she drove to the meeting place, she tried to think of what to say to them. It wouldn't be pretty.
SS
"Come on Antonio. I think we have just found a way to get rid of these two," A man said as he pulled the ear piece out. He got into the crown victoria and through the file down on the back seat making the pictures of Tim and Calleigh fall out. As he pulled out in the middle of traffic,the only thing that the other drivers could see was the federal plates on the car as it sped down the street.
SS
Horatio slammed on the breaks as he came to the town house, seeing that Sienna's black jetta was gone. He hit the wheel as he pulled out his cell phone. He had to let them know that she had found out about them. He went through the entire process and waited for the woman to answer. He then gave her the name and waited. The clicks on the phone were annoying and he started the Hummer back up and put it in drive. The phone rang endlessly and he finally decided after six rings that they weren't there. He flipped the phone down and shoved it back into his suit pocket.
"Sienna,." he said simply. He floored the Hummer, hoping that he would beat her there. He knew exactly where they were going to be.
SS
Sienna pulled up across the street from the meeting place and waited. So many thoughts had ran through her head as she watched the darkness chase the sun into the horizon. Why didn't they tell them about what was going on? A better question was, why would they volunteer for something like this when they had two children? If they would have declined, Simone would be here now.
Sienna wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve and saw a black van pull up to the curb in front of her. She watched as they got out of the van and walked across the street to the park. She got out of her car and jogged across the street and watched as they stopped under an shelter beside a barbecue grill. So this is the grill, Sienna thought. As she walked closer, she heard them talking.
" Tim, how can you be sure it wasn't Sackhiem?" Calleigh was saying. Sienna could make out her face in the dim light coming from the light post. She saw the years etched on her face as well as the sadness that hung around her once sparkling green eyes. How she had missed her mother.
" Cause, he didn't know about the meeting place. Since when have you known Sackhiem to not know something? He is a jackass but he's a jackass in the know," Tim said lightly.
Sienna smiled at his attempt to make the situation better, just as he had always done.
" Simone, you can't get mad because, Sienna got something that you didn't," Tim said as he consoled his daughter, " She worked hard to get that money."
" Dad, I worked just as hard and I didn't get any money," Simone had said as she stared down at her sister as they were walking out of the store.
" It's not my fault, you chose to do Mrs. Howard's yard instead of babysitting for Mrs. Johnson," Sienna had said as she stuck her tongue out.
" Oh shut up, you brat! You always get what you want anyway," Simone said.
" Girls, hold on. Sienna , Simone apologize to each other. This is no reason to fight."
" But dadddy, " Sienna said with a little whine.
" I mean it, apologize," Tim said sternly. He let a little smile tickle the sides of his mouth. He relished being a father.
" Okay, Simone. I'm ... sorry."
" Simone?" Tim said.
" Alright, gosh! Sienna I'm sorry."
" Good. Now Simone , I'm going to tell you why you shouldn't worry about how much money your sister makes babysitting," Tim said as he unlocked the car. Sienna got in and sat down waiting patiently for them to get in.
" Why is that dad?" Simone asked sighing.
" Because , when you are older, you will have the best calves from mowing the yard. Sienna how ever, will be a nut case. Those Johnson kids will drive her to the loony bin."
" Hey ! I heard that," Sienna said as she rolled the window down.
" I'm sorry honey. Really , you two should not fight so much. You are sisters, you're supposed to hang together."
Sienna smiled and looked at Simone. She could try if Simone tried.
A noise shook her out of her memory and she looked out to see her parents being held at gun point. She moved further carefully, filling her hands with her gun. She stepped on a twig and cursed to herself. When she looked up again, she saw her parents face as the gun had moved. Then she heard the click. Working on pure adrenaline, she felt her finger squeeze the trigger. Gun shots filled the air.
TBC...
A/N: Haha haha. You are just going to have to wait an see what happens...