The MisEducation of Calleigh Duquense
Chapter 6
Calleigh awoke next to Tim the next morning, with a sense of relief. Never had it felt so good to release what she had pent up inside of her. She watched him sleep, taking in his dark features and his chest as it rose and fell with every breath. Who was she kidding? She would love this man until the end of time.
She got up quietly , trying not to disturb him, and put on her robe that was lying on her chair. Their clothes were scattered through out the room and she spied the blue lab coats at the door. As she picked them up , she relived the moment his hands took off her lab coat. She closed her eyes and put his next to her face, smelling his essence within the fibers.
" Hey ,you. What are you doing out of bed?" Tim said as he sat up. Calleigh almost lost her breath as she saw his bare chest . She smiled as she gently put the lab coats on the chair, and returned to him.
" We have to get back to the lab. It's almost six thirty. Sleep good?" Calleigh asked as she ran her fingers through his unruly hair.
" Like a baby. You?"
" Better than I have ever before. I have you to thank for that."
" I aim to please," he said with a smile as he pulled her hair behind her ear. " Are you feeling okay?"
" I just want to find this person and put this behind me. I can't help think that it is someone from our past ,Tim. I don't know what I would do if she died because of me," Calleigh said staring at her bed.
" This was a random act of brutality, Cal. It has nothing to do with you."
" Maybe you're right, Tim. Maybe I'm making too much of this. But I've experienced this before..." Calleigh said before she realized what she was saying. She didn't want to open up old wounds to him, not this early in their relationship.
" Wait, what do you mean you've experienced this before?" Tim asked . He saw the fear that briefly flashed in her eyes.
" Nothing, Tim. You want breakfast?" Calleigh replied quickly. She wanted to steer clear of this conversation.
Tim took the hint and answered, " Whatever you have. I don't really do breakfast."
" Really? Well that's the first thing that is going to change," Calleigh said as she pushed him playfully. " Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
" Thanks for notifying me about that, mom," Tim returned sarcastically.
" How about pancakes and eggs? Simple enough." Calleigh said as she tried to get up. Tim pulled her down and smiled at her.
" Fine by me. First, I want a little reminder of last night."
" We are going to be late, Yankee," Calleigh giggled.
"What's a minute or two?"
" We still have to eat breakfast," Calleigh reminded.
" Forget breakfast." Tim said as he took her into an intense kiss.
" Forgotten." Calleigh replied seductively as she turned her attention on to him. She could get used to this.
CD
" Nice to see that you graced us with your presence," Eric quipped as he saw Speed getting off the elevator. " I was concerned when I saw your bike in the parking lot and you were no where to be seen. I knew we couldn't be so lucky to get rid of you."
" Very funny, Delko. Did the DNA come back on the skin samples?" Tim asked as he glanced at Calleigh.
" Yes. CODIS matched it to an ex con, Frankie Gomez. Did ten years for rape and assault with a deadly weapon."
" So the semen matched him too?" Calleigh asked as they began walking to the layout room. What little evidence they had , was in that room waiting to be pieced together.
"That's what's stumping me. The semen didn't match the skin cells, but it matched the blood on the gun. There's no match in CODIS for either," Eric said as he flipped open the file.
" Weird. Can we talk to this Frankie Gomez?" Calleigh asked as they came to a stop at the layout doors.
" Yeah, Tripp and Horatio have already brought him in. He's in interrogation room 3. H wants us to go over the evidence we got before we question him."
Just then ,a young man walked up to Calleigh with a file folder and put it in her hand. " Um , Calleigh , this just hit this morning."
" Oh thanks Camden. I forgot that I was running the bullet in IBIS last night," Calleigh said sheepishly. It wasn't like her to just leave while she was working on something, but she need the retreat that she got. She glanced at the report and felt her knees weaken and her stomach twist in knots. Closing the file she started to walk away, but the world had turned black , and she slunk to the ground quickly.
CD
Calleigh woke feeling the panic tighten in her chest. She felt the acid that threatened to spill out of her stomach and got up quickly, searching for the nearest trash can. As she emptied her stomach, she felt a comforting hand on her back.
"Calleigh, are you okay?"
Calleigh nodded her head as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She wasn't expecting to see his name on her report. She thought she left him in New Orleans. She lifted her head out of the trash can and accepted the wet paper towel from Tim. They were alone in the break room, and Calleigh couldn't be more relieved.
" I'm fine, Tim. Really. I just got a shock, is all."
"What was so shocking?"
" A name from the past. Now I know, Olivia died because of me." Calleigh said as she sat at a table. Her hands had started to tremble violently. The last she saw of Max Stratton was when he was being carted off to jail, thanks in part to Olivia.
" How can you be so sure? It's just a name."
"Tim, it's my ex boyfriend. The bullet came from his gun that he had used in a robbery in New Orleans," Calleigh remarked sullenly. She was now finding herself in a position where she had to talk about her past. Tim came to sit next to her and took her hand in his. He wanted her to know that he was there for her.
When she was finished, Tim squeezed her hand that had finally stopped trembling.
" So, this Max , he was arrested for assaulting you and not the robbery?" Tim said feeling the tremendous feeling of hatred for this man.
" Yeah, Olivia made sure that he would never hurt me again, and she ended up paying for it with her life."
" You are sure that Max had something to do with this? You know the evidence is circumstantial. He could easily say that he had consensual sex with Olivia before she died, and you know how easy it is to say that your gun had been stolen. We need to place him there with that gun. With Gomez in the picture, that could be hard."
Calleigh took all this in and steadied her thinking. The years that past since she had seen the last of Max had taught her nothing but resilience. Yes, she was initially terrified of the aspect of facing Max again, put that was pushed to the back of her mind as she pictured Olivia lying on the slab.
"We have to talk to this Gomez character," Calleigh said as she stood up.
" You , are not going anywhere near Gomez. You have a conflict of interest," Tim said as he stood up with her.
" Are you going to try and stop me?" Calleigh replied as she turned with fury in her eyes. " If he did this, which I'm sure he did, Max is going to pay." She turned and walked out the break room , heading for interrogation.
CD
" So Mr. Gomez, how do you know, Olivia West?" Horatio said as he stood at the window staring out at the beautiful day that Miami had to offer.
" Who?" he asked with a smirk on his face. He was a burly Hispanic guy that had seen many years in the Florida state penitentiary.
Horatio walked over to the table and opened up the brown folder and slid it across the slick glass table. " Does she look familiar to you? You may not recognize her, she's been dead for a month."
" I don't know her," Gomez said as he glanced at the picture and then looked away.
" You should, your DNA was found under her nails. Now do you want to try again?" Horatio asked as he smiled at the man.
Gomez fidgeted nervously and glanced at the red haired cop . He remembered the strict instructions he got from that guy at the race track. If he got into some trouble, he was to keep his mouth shut. The guy had threatened his entire family with their lives if he told the cops anything.
" I want my lawyer."
" I'm sure you do. But do us a favor and go ahead and tell me how you know Ms. West. You and her don't run in the same circles. It's like night and day." Tripp said from the corner. He let Horatio take the lead on this.
Gomez looked at him with worry in his eyes. The cops were asking all the right questions, and it was making it harder for him to keep it quiet.
" Look, I said I wanted my lawyer."
" Fine, but if you lawyer up, I'm pretty sure that he will tell you not to say anything and promise you a golden plea, which judging by the evidence, the judge will laugh you out of court. You have two choices here, Frankie. You can help us and maybe I can look at LWOP or," Horatio said pausing, " the death penalty. Florida has an excellent execution record. It's your choice."
Gomez sighed heavily and put his head in his hands. All he wanted was some extra money for his kids, and now he was looking at life in prison or the death penalty. To him, neither looked inviting. He sat there and thought about it hard. The door then opened and a beautiful blond walked in. Her green eyes sparkled with fury and her glare felt cold on him.
" I got a couple of questions for you, Frankie," Calleigh said without looking at Horatio.
" Calleigh..."
" How did Max Stratton pay you? With his platinum card or with cash?"
" What?" Gomez said horrified. Nobody was supposed to know his name.
" Max Stratton. He put you up to kill Olivia didn't you?"
" Lady, I don't know what you are talking about."
" Detective Duquense..." Horatio said sternly. " Outside."
" I want to know how much he paid you?" Calleigh said as she came up quickly on him. She was inches from him as she lashed out at him, connecting with his cheek. " She didn't deserve what happened to her."
Calleigh felt hands on her pulling her back, as the tears fell. Horatio walked out behind the uniforms , inciting stares from the rest of the staff. When she calmed down, Horatio nodded at the uniforms and they went back into the interrogation room.
" Calleigh, what do you think you are doing?"
" Horatio , he knows. Max Stratton put him up to this. If we can get to Gomez, we can nail Max."
" This is not the way we do it, Calleigh. You are letting your emotions get in the way of this investigation. What you did in there was unacceptable. You're off the case."
" Horatio, I have to do this."
" Calleigh, you are still grieving for the loss of your friend, and your anger is compromising this. If you really want to help put these guys away, walk."
" Horatio,..."
"Calleigh, it's not a request, I'm ordering you to walk. You'll be assigned another case." Horatio said perturbed. He was a stickler for investigations running smoothly. Calleigh walked by Tim with frustration. Horatio looked at her as she walked to the elevators and got on. Then he turned to Tim and said, " Speed, this is your investigation. Calleigh is to have nothing to do with this. Understood?"
Speed nodded and glanced back at Calleigh , he would talk to her later.
" So where are we, H?"
" Trying to salvage this case, Gomez lawyered up," Horatio said as he put his hands on his hips. His concern for Calleigh's well being itched at his conscience. " Let's get back in there."
TBC...
