Chapter 3 – Losing It

In the middle of the night the car was rapidly passing by the dark streets of Miami. The silence in it was so thick, you could feel it. They were quiet, but it was just like the silence before the storm. It would start and all hell would break loose...

"I don't know where to look for him!" Horatio broke the silence. But when he didn't get an answer he slowly turned his head to check and found her wiping her silent tears with a shaky hand.

"We'll find him, Yelina" he spoke lightly, trying to belive his own words. He waited for an answer, or at least a little nod, but it didn't come again.

"Are you alright?" he asked this time. She was still quiet and distant.

"Look, I'm sure he is sa..."
"OH STOP IT! STOP IT!" Finally she let it out in a burst. She placed her hands on her face to hide her eyes as she continued to sob, shaking.

Horatio just froze staring at her, his bewildered eyes wide open. He wanted to calm her down, ease her pain, so he slowly reached his hand and touch her shoulder. But suddenly she brushed off his hand and glared at him with a mix of fear and hatred bursting from her eyes.

"How could you do that!" she shouted.
"What? Do what?"
"Look at this... It's all your fault. We wouldn't be here if you didn't..." she stopped, looking down.
"If I didn't kill him..." he finished the sentence, "You don't believe me, do you?" he asked, even if it hurt so much to ask the question when he already knew the answer.

"I... uh.. I..." she tried to find something to say, but couldn't.

"Jesus Christ, Yelina! How could you belive that I did that? Tell me, how!" now it was his turn to shout,
"All I ever wanted was to be there for you, Yelina. I wanted you to be happy. Now thank you so much for not believing me. I always tried to protect you!"
"I've never asked you to protect me! I'm not a helpless child! Your keyholder was in my house, he wrote your name with his own blood! And you were smiling for gods sake! It was obvious that you were lying!"
"You seriously can't imagine how you hurt me now, Yelina. When did I lie to you, huh, WHEN!"
"You lied to me about your daughter!"
"My what!... uh... oh God! Yelina, she's... she's not..."
"Don't you ever try to lie to me again, Horatio. I know who she is.. And you lied to me about her! I can't trust you anymore.."
"OH DAMN! SHE'S NOT MY DAUGHTER!" he shouted with all his might, causing her to gasp, "I'm tired of cleaning your mess, Ray.." he continued grumbling, not aware of the words he had just said.

She simply looked at him, color draining from her face. She couldn't say anything, couldn't move, couldn't turn her eyes away from his. She could only let the tears roll down from her cheeks.

Then Horatio slammed on the brakes causing her to slide forward. She put her hand on the dashboard to absorb the force. Now they both were staring at the lonely figure near the street.
Yelina immediately got out of the car and ran to the young boy. He looked into his mother's distressed eyes and said:
"I'm sorry, mom!"
"Don't do this again, baby" she spoke, cuddling him. Then they slowly walked to the car and got in.

"I just wanted to go to uncle Horatio's house but I got lost! Can we go with him now, mom?" Ray Jr asked as Horatio started the engine and drove.
"No, we can't" she shot back coldly. And that was the last thing she said.

Twenty-five silent and tight minutes later Horatio pulled up in front of Yelina's mother's house.

"See you next time, uncle Horatio" Ray Jr said slowly before he got out of the car and set to walk through the house. Horatio simply nodded, smiling. Then he turned his eyes to Yelina who was still sitting next to him. She awkwardly looked away, reached her hand to the door handle, opened the door and left without saying a word.

"Anytime..." he whispered behind her, watching them entering the house. As he made sure they were safe, he drove off.