The New Recruits

Chapter 14

The pain was unbearable as he lifted his head slightly to find that he was blindfolded. He tried to move and found that he was bound hand and foot to the chair that he was sitting in. He fought to train his ears to listen for even the smallest sound , but his mind wouldn't let him focus on that. Instead, he thought of Yelina. Before he blacked out, he noticed that she wasn't moving and he remembered the sticky feeling he felt on his hands. He struggled against the binds, feeling the ropes dig further into his skin. There was no use. He remained calm as he dropped his head to his chest. Then the voice came to him as if whispered by an apparation, " Caine, I remember you saying that you never close..." Instantly , he knew who was behind this. And he knew what he was after. Retribution.

TNR

" God , pleas let this be a mistake," Maddison said to herself as she pulled up to the front of Yelina's well manicured lawn. A lone patrol car sat at the curb with his red and blue lights flashing, pulling concerned neighbors from there dwellings. Rarely did anything like this happen on their block and at the mere sight of another official vehicle, the number of citizens increased. Maddison glared at the crowd in disgust as she passed through the crime scene tape that was already being stringed around the yard. " Why do people flock to a crime scene?" she thought to herself. She glanced at Raymond who held an expression somewhere between fear and sadness. He walked with a steady purpose, but Maddison could see that he was barely functioning. His mother was all he had for so long, she couldn't imagine what he would do if he lost her.

Maddison showed her badge to the uniform that was guarding the door and she turned to see her CSI team as they slowly approached the doorway and heard as more radio cars where approaching the scene. It was always hard when it was one of their own, but it was a painful tragedy when that person was someone that everyone knew personally. Alexx moved quickly to Maddison's side as she stopped to talk to the uniform in the hallway.Raymond moved past them, his eyes darting from the kitchen to the living room. Maddison gestured for the team to follow her as she began walking to the rear of the house.

Coming to the hall, Maddison saw the blood on the floor as it pooled under her. Raymond stood quietly as he gazed at his mother's lifeless body. Tears began to form under his eye lids as he closed them tightly. He knelt down and moved her long brown hair out of her face to reveal it, untouched and eyes open, unseeing. He gently closed her lids and stood up and walked away. Alexx stepped up and snapped on her gloves angrily. She opened her case and began her preliminary. Maddison started to go after Raymond , but was stopped by Tim as he produced another piece of paper.

" Maddison, I found this on the kitchen table," Tim said as he handed the paper to her. He glanced briefly at Yelina with sadness and dropped his head.

" Another letter?" Maddison asked as she tried to keep an eye on Raymond as he loitered in the front of the house.

Tim shot his head up and cleared his throat roughly, trying to hold back the tears. He had worked with Yelina for so many years and now here she was lying on her own floor dead. " Um , yeah. I'll bag it and take it to QD when I get back to the lab. Did you see what it said?"

Maddison looked at the script as it scrawled hurriedly over the paper and began to read it aloud,

" ' She was beautiful wasn't she? The same will befall your precious Lieutenant Caine if you don't come through with my demands.' Any ideas who would want to kill Horatio?" Maddison asked as she felt the acid threatening to come up.

" Take your pick, Maddison. Your Uncle was relentless in his pursuit of justice and he put away a lot of people," Tim replied as he continued to watch Alexx as she worked. Her frustration was begining to show as she slammed down an instrument. " But everything that has been happening, the bomb on the Causeway, the attempt on H's life at the hospital, even the three dead bodies, all of it seems connected."

" Everything's connected, in some form or fashion, Speed," Eric said as he came up behind them. "I found H's cell phone."

Maddison took the bag in hand and sighed heavily. This was not happening. " Eric, take this to the A/V lab, maybe there is something on it that we can use. Speed, I want you to work on the letter and compare it to the one we found in Liberty City, and get pictures. Like Eric said , everything's connected. So we need to concentrate on the missing pieces."

" Sure Maddison," Eric said as he turned to walk away. He would rather busy himself than to watch another one of his colleagues be put into a body bag. Tim followed behind him with is camera readied.

Maddison turned her attention to Alexx and knelt on her haunches. She gathered herself as she looked at the body.

" Alexx, what happened?"

" One single GSW to the back," Alexx said as she lifted Yelina slightly to show a dark red stain on her light blue shirt. " I'm unable to give cause of death , but there was no exit wound. I'll get the bullet out and give you a COD at the post."

" Alright, Alexx, thanks," Maddison exhaled.

" Is he going to be okay?" Alexx asked as she stood up and motioned for the awaiting body haulers to come down the hall.

" I don't know Alexx," Maddison returned as she gazed mournfully at Yelina. She remembered the many times that she had spent in this house while she was getting to know her half brother. Yelina, at first, had been shocked and hurt at the knowledge that she was also Raymond's child, but slowly, she accepted it and opened her heart and her home to Maddison. Maddison moved to the body and grabbed her delicate hand. Her loss would not be taken lightly.

The End

A/N: I know what you are all saying, but never fear, a new story will appear! Let me know how you feel about the prospect of another story involving our New Recruits!