The New Recruits

A/N: Another one of those stories that I completely forgot about. I'm trying to finish these before I get started on any more. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9

Raymond looked up at the numbers on the elevator as they lit up. He had just finished canvassing the neighborhood when he got the frantic phone call from Maddison. Horatio was awake , but someone was out to kill him. Now they had this to worry about as well. As the elevator doors opened, he drew in a soft breath and set out to find Maddison.

The nurse sitting at the station , glanced up at him and pointed around the corner. Raymond smiled and nodded gratefully then turned the corner to find Maddison on her cell phone. Maddison turned around and saw Raymond standing there and smiled lightly. She said a few more words then flipped the phone down, happy to see him.

" Ray, I'm so glad you are here," Maddison said as she hugged him. She had been sick with worry over Horatio and this little break was what she needed.

" Horatio's awake? Is he ok?" Ray said as he pulled away from Maddison.

" Yeah, he's fine. He is a bit winded but his real doctor said that he will be like that for a while."

" So tell me ,what this about someone impersonating his doctor. What's that all about?"

Maddison sat down on the bench then gestured for Ray to do the same. She had done some digging after she found out that the doctor was an impostor, and she came up on some very interesting details.

" I did some searching and talking to the staff and found out that there was an unknown man waiting in the staff lounge. The nurses said that they had seen him before, he was a janitor, so that was the reason that they didn't think anything different."

" Okay, but how does this tie in to Horatio," Ray said as he tried to follow Maddison.

" I'm getting to it. So I asked around about the janitor and his supervisor told me that he had to let him go about a week ago, because he was hanging around patients rooms too much. He was caught in Horatio's room not long after he was put there."

" Janitors clean rooms, what's the big deal?"

" He was assigned to the cafeteria, he had no reason to be in ICU."

"So you think that he was scoping out his target?" Ray asked as it finally dawned on him.

" Yes. When I asked to see his employee file, I saw that he was a convicted felon. Spent sometime in the state penitentiary. Any guesses to his cell mate?"

" Could be any number of creeps. Horatio was good at his job," Ray replied with a smile.

" Clavo Cruz."

" You're kidding? The same Clavo that Horatio snagged on a technicality?"

" One in the same. We need to find this guy before he tries something else," Maddison said as she got up. " First I want to get Horatio out of here. This place has been compromised."

" Got any suggestions?"

" Yeah , your mom's," Maddison said as she glanced up at him. The shocked look hung on Ray's face as she started to walk off.

" Maddie, you can't be real. You want to put Horatio at my mother's?"

" It's the only safe place I can think of. He's out of medical danger now, so all is needed is a little recovery time. Do you think that Yelina would be okay with this?"

" It's not my mom that I'm worried about. Horatio isn't going to like this," Ray said as he followed her to his room.

" Well, as I see it, he doesn't have a choice. Not until I get to the bottom of this. Oh , I almost forgot what's the status of the investigation?" Maddison asked. She had spent the majority of the day at the hospital and was out of the loop.

" Chaz is dead. Found the gun that killed him outside behind some bushes. Fingerprints from the gun match his son, Chet. We also found some other prints that we are running , but haven't gotten any hits off of yet, which is not surprising given that the house was just a rest stop for the meth heads. One thing though, before Chaz bit the bullet, he made the bomb that exploded on the bridge. His clothes proved that."

" Have we gotten to Chet?"

" Tripp is following that lead. Right now, everything is at a standstill, so your team has gone home. They really worked hard to process the evidence and work it. The night shift is taking over. Hopefully by morning, we will have something to go on," Ray said as he stopped at the door. He looked at his Uncle's name on the door and swallowed hard. He had been perilously close to leaving them, and he wasn't out of the woods yet. Maddison opened the door and walked in, Raymond followed behind her , not wanting to wait another moment to see him.

Tim glanced up from the book he was reading to see Robin coming into the living room. She hadn't said a word to him since earlier and now she completely ignored him as she sat at the opposite end of the couch. He conceded that he had handled the situation badly, but he couldn't help the way he felt. There was nothing more he wanted than to be with Calleigh, but as he sat there gazing at his wife, he knew that this was the best course of action, for everyone.

" Robin, I'm sorry." Tim said as he put the book down. Robin continued to flip through the magazine that she had picked up and nodded slightly.

" Sorry that you were caught?"

" Caught? I wasn't caught doing anything."

" Yes you were. I walked in on a tender moment between you two. Had a little dejavu as well."

" Robin, that was years ago, and I told you that it would never happen again. I love you and I'm trying to apologize to you for the way I acted this afternoon."

" Do you want a divorce, Tim?" Robin asked as she finally looked to him. Pain swam in her eyes.

" Why would I want a divorce? I love you," Tim said as he got up to get closer to Robin.

" Calleigh's single again, so I naturally assumed that you would want to rekindle what you had all those years ago," Robin said with tears.

"What do you mean, she's single again?"

" She didn't tell you? Phillip filed for separation," Robin replied.

Tim furrowed his brow and closed his eyes. That was why she had come earlier.

" No, she didn't. But that doesn't mean anything. I still love you and I'm not going to leave you."

" You're not?"

"No."

" What about what you two had in the past?"

"It's in the past, Robin. I'm here with you , right now. That is unless you want me to go and find her..." Tim said as he moved to get up. Robin grabbed him pulled him back down to the couch, putting him face to face with her. His warm brown eyes beckoned her.

" No, that will be okay. I'm sorry for treating you like a trash can. Can you forgive me?"

" If you can forgive me." Tim replied as he inched forward to kiss his wife.

" That can be arranged," Robin said as her lips brushed past his softly. As they kissed , Tim's mind drifted farther away from Calleigh, knowing that he was making the right decision. He was going to stay with Robin, and he was going to try to forget about the love that he and Calleigh shared. It would be best for everyone.

Jacinda walked to her jeep in the parking garage , thankful that the day was over. She had spent hours pouring over the hundreds of fingerprints that were found at the house. This case was slowly dragging on and every turn they took, another piece of the evidence pointed to something else. She sighed heavily as she looked for the keys in her bag, not noticing as someone came up behind her.

" You know , you shouldn't be out here alone at night," a voice said. Jacinda turned around quickly to see RJ standing beside his electric blue Ducati.

" Not a very good way to get someone's attention, RJ. It could get you killed," Jacinda said with a smile on her face. She had seen little of him during the day, and she was happy to have a little time with him. " Nothing better to do than lie in wait for a hapless victim?"

" I was waiting for you to come so I could ask you to dinner."

" Your phone doesn't work?" Jacinda asked sarcastically.

" If you didn't have blond hair , I could swear that you belonged to my family,"RJ said as he rested against the bike. It was the exact replica of the yellow Ducati that he had ridden on when he was a little boy.

" Funny. So you want to go out to dinner?"

" That is if you are hungry."

" Sure. You want to follow me to my apartment. We can go from there," Jacinda said as RJ walked to her.

"Sounds fine to me. I think we need to have sometime alone, don't you?" RJasked as he placed his hands around her waist. Jacinda was slightly taken aback by this , but she leaned into it, inching her face closer to his. She took in all of his handsome features , from the warmness of the brown eyes to the softness of his smooth skin. Faint traces of stubble made her weak at the knees and she fought to remain composed as his lips brushed hers ever so softly.

Just then , a voice forced them to part quickly as it made its way to the garage. Jacinda looked around and saw that one car was left and she knew who it was.

" I'm glad that I caught you two, you want to go and grab something to eat?" Jen asked as she walked to them.

" Not really Jen,..." RJ said as he glanced at Jacinda. Jacinda glanced back him and shrugged her shoulders as Jen looked at RJ.

" C'mon guys, it's been a hard day. We need to unwind a little," Jen edged on.

" Sure,"Jacinda sighed heavily and nodded her head. If they didn't allow her, she would be destroyed. RJ looked at her in disbelief as Jen then stood next to Jacinda . " Go ahead and get in. I'll be there in a sec, Jen."

" I thought we were going to have some alone time," RJ said as Jen walked away

" We will, I promise," Jacinda said giving him a quick peck on his cheek. The sensation of his stubble against her lips was more than she could bear. " We still have almost twelve hours until we have to be back here. I think we can squeeze time in later."

RJ smiled at the remark and watched her as she walked to the jeep. He put on his helmet and waited for the jeep to pass by him and started his bike. Later he thought.

TBC...