The Miseducation of Calleigh Duquense

Chapter 4

A month later

Calleigh woke up with no problem, walking to the shower thinking about what happened. Everything had been going so well until she found out that he had a girlfriend. She had come home alone that night wondering if she had made the right decision going out with him. The entire cab ride back, he had called her cell phone. She finally got tired of it and powered it off. She wanted nothing more to do with him.

After getting dressed, Calleigh dialed Olivia's number again to blast her out. She hadn't heard from her since that night before going out and it was starting to worry her. She waited for her to pick up, getting her answering machine, again.

" Hey Liv, why don't you give me a call? I haven't heard from you in a month. I'm sorry for the message I left. I was angry. Call me," Calleigh said. She put the phone down on the hook. She was concerned about Olivia's lack of communication. That never happened. She continued to think about Olivia as she poured her cup of coffee. Then her mind switched to Tim. She had not said a word to him since that night and he hadn't called her. She was still pissed at him that he would do this to her, but she missed him. She thought that they had something special, but she was mistaken.

" Everyone's allowed to be wrong once in their lives" she remembered him saying.

I'll never get this right, she said to herself as she sipped the last of her coffee. She then grabbed her keys and left for the lab, her heart breaking at the very thought of what transpired. She arrived at the lab seeing the yellow Ducati parked in it's place. Today would be hard. Her mind went to the kiss that they shared that night. She shook it off as she opened the doors. It was over, there was no going back.

She walked through the lobby with her head down, hoping not to bump into anyone. She almost made it to the elevators before she heard her name.

" Calleigh!"

She turned around to see Delko trotting to catch up with her. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

" Yes, Eric."

" What happened to you guys? One minute you can't keep your hands to yourselves the next , I'm staring at a shell of a man." Eric asked. Since that night, Tim hadn't spoken to his best friend.

" He didn't tell you? Maybe , he was just embarrassed that he got caught," Calleigh replied as she touched the down button on the elevator.

" Tell me what? He hasn't said two words to me in a month."

" His girlfriend came after him while we were coming from dinner. She said that he had lied to her about his intentions. I can't be with someone who isn't truthful, Eric."

" What are you talking about? Speed doesn't have a girlfriend."

" Tell that to Pam. I think that's her name." Calleigh said looking up. She didn't want to talk about this now.

" Pam? It's been over for almost a year. She is always following him around doing things like that."

" Right . Then why didn't he tell me the truth?" Calleigh said as she felt tears in her eyes.

" Because you wouldn't let me," a voice said from behind them. It was Tim. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes. It tore her to her soul to see him like that. She steeled herself against what she was feeling and exhaled.

" You could've told me that you had this problem. Why wouldn't you?"

" I had just met you, Calleigh. I didn't want to turn you off with my problems. Besides, I couldn't think about Pam. I'm in love with you." Tim said softly. Eric stood back with a slight smile on his face.

" You just met me a month ago, Tim. How can you love me?" Calleigh said truly awed by his admission. But she couldn't deny it. As pissed as she was she couldn't deny the same feelings that welled up in her. She loved him as well, but she had been through too much to let her feelings make decisions for her.

" I can't explain it Calleigh. But I love you. I have loved you since the night at the club, and I will continue to love you even though you are upset at me."

The door to the elevator swished open and Calleigh stepped in. All she wanted in life was someone who truly loved her, but she just couldn't get over the fact that he had lied.

" It's going to take a lot more than that, Tim," Calleigh said as the door closed. Once she was alone, she let the tears fall. How could she stare true love in the face and deny it? She thought to press the button back up to the lobby, but she just stood there, staring into space. There was nothing that she could do now, the damage had been done. Up in the lobby, Tim kicked the elevator in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to have Calleigh back in his life, but he knew that it was going to be an up hill battle. He turned to Eric, anger boiling under the surface. If he had just ignored his request to go to the club that night, he wouldn't be in this predicament. Howver, he would've never met Calleigh in the manner that he did.

" You know this is all your fault."

" Really? I thought that this was the woman that you were going to marry?" Eric said as they started walking to the trace lab.

" She is, she just doesn't know it yet. I've got to find a way to get back on her good side," Tim said frowning. There had to be something that he could do.

" Well, good luck Romeo. See ya later," Eric said as he turned to go into the DNA lab. No matter what, they still had work to do.

" Yeah, later," Tim said as he continued to devise a way to Calleigh's heart. He had to have her in his life, if it was the last thing he would do.


Calleigh pointed the gun at the target and aimed. This was her therapy. She could take out her frustrations on the target instead of the people or circumstances that bothered her. She felt in control when she had a gun in her hand, it was the only thing that was constant in her life, and it rarely broke her heart into a million pieces. She thought about Tim as she emptied the clip on to the target that had seen better days. Why wouldn't he tell the truth? Why hide who he was, Calleigh thought as she put the gun down. She took a deep breath and slipped off the safety glasses and the headphones. It shouldn't matter, he loves you, you idiot, Calleigh continued. She had to talk to Olivia, she was the only one who could help her through this.

As she flipped her phone up, she heard the familiar ring. Looking at the caller id , she saw that a call out had been made. In an instant the doors to the firing range burst open. Eric walked in with a distraught look on his face.

" Eric, what's going on? What's the matter?" Calleigh asked.

" We got a call out..."

" I was getting ready to answer when you barged in. What is it?"

" Calleigh,..."

" Eric, it is a simple question. God, sometimes I swear..." Calleigh said as she hit the button on her phone.

" It's at Olivia's." Eric replied simply. He watched herfor her reaction. He had known from Olivia that they were the best of friends.

" No,... That can't be right..." Calleigh said as she tried to ward off the tears that were forming in her eyes.

" When's the last time you saw or talked to her?"

" This can't be happening..."

" Calleigh, when is the last time you talked to her?" Eric asked againas he approached her.

" I've got to go to her," Calleigh continued as she put her gun in the holster. She walked quickly past Eric out of the double doors. Eric turned to follow.

" Calleigh! We need to wait for Horatio," Eric called out to her as she disappeared up the stair well.

Eric cursed as he pulled out his cell phone, dialing Tim's number.

" Speed, we need to get to that call out. Calleigh's on her way there." Eric said simply. This wasn't going to be good for any of them.

CD

Calleigh pulled up to the apartment building and slammed on the breaks, bringing the hulking Hummer to a stand still. Around the perimeter of the yard, the yellow crime scene tape was already up. She glanced over to the coroner's van and felt the huge tears roll down her eyes. She quickly wiped them off so that no one would see them. As she ducked under the tape, she saw the door to the apartment ajar. Taking several deep breaths, she walked ahead inside. The stench of decomposition assaulted her nostrils as she was stopped by a patrol officer and asked to sign in. She dug into her pocket and produced a pair of latex gloves that she had stuck in there on a whim and began to breath through her mouth. The popping of the flash from the camera startled her and she snapped the gloves on then proceeded to the living room.

Calleigh took in a jagged breath when she saw her. She was lying, naked in an awkward position in a pool of her own dried blood and there were visible signs of a struggle. Her long brown hair covered her eyes that were staring into nothingness and her skin had taken on a foul brownish color. Calleigh saw as Alexx knelt to the body and began her analysis. Alexx looked up to see Calleigh staring at the poor soul that lain on the floor.

"Calleigh, are you okay?"

" What happened to her , Alexx?" Calleigh asked as the tears threatened to come back.

" Well from what I can see, COD was exsanguination due to puncture marks on the chest. The crazy thing is that there's petechia hemorrhaging around her eyes and I can see some ecchymosis around her neck, but no ligature marks. There's also a GSW to the frontal lobe of the skull."

" So what you are saying is that she was stabbed , shot beaten and suffocated?" Calleigh said as she got in control of her emotions.

" She was tortured, Calleigh. Poor girl suffered for a long time. There's a blood trail leading from upstairs to in here."

" She was killed upstairs?"

" That's for you to find out," Alexx said as she continued to go over the body.

Calleigh nodded and knelt down," You said GSW, is there a bullet?"

" I don't see an exit wound, so I'm guessing that it is still in the skull. When I find it, I'll give it to you."

Calleigh reached out a hand to move the stray hairs from her face. She had to be sure that this was her.

" Calleigh, do you know her?" Alexx said as she noticed Calleigh's demeanor.

" She was my best friend. Her name's Olivia Bradshaw. She was a defense lawyer with a high powered law firm here in Miami. Any chance of knowing how long she's been here?"

" The decomp smell say three weeks, but the blood pool has completely dried and the maggots are gone. Rigor mortis has passed and the skin has started to deteriorate. A month, tops."

A month? Calleigh thought to herself. Had she been too wrapped up in her own woes not to have come by her best friend's house?

" Do you know who found her?" Calleigh said as she stood up.

" The super. He says that he was coming to fix an electrical problem. He stated that the smell caught him at the door and he immediately called the police."

" Then we are going to have to talk to him," A voice said from the door way.

" Horatio," Alexx said as she turned the body over. She knew that she was going to have to repeat her findings.

Horatio acknowledged Alexx then turned his attention to Calleigh. Eric and Tim had come in behind him and now flanked him. Calleigh glanced at Tim, seeing concern in his eyes.

" Calleigh, you know the victim?"

" Yes, Horatio. She is... was my best friend." Calleigh said almost softly.

" I can't let you work this case. It would be a conflict of interest," Horatio said gently.

" Horatio, please , let me work this. I've got to ..."

" Calleigh , maybe you need to go home. Take a day to rest," Tim said as he moved forward.

Calleigh shot him a look and then ignored him. She focused her attention to Olivia then back to Horatio. Deep inside she knew that she shouldn't be here, but she had to know who did this to her.

" Horatio, I'm pleading with you. Let me work it. If it gets to be too much, I'll back off," Calleigh said strongly. She saw as Horatio considered it then nodded.

" Okay, I'll let you work it, but I am putting Speed with you. If there's any problems , I want him to take the lead on the investigation. Understood?"

Calleigh nodded and held her peace. If she wanted to get down to the bottom of this, she was going to have to reign in her emotions.

TBC...