Left Undone
Chapter 8 A surreal incident
"Now if you hit the ball this time, Riley, I think we have a good chance of winning," Calleigh called to her as Riley approached the plate, grasping hard at the bat in her hands. She had never once held a bat in her life, but here she was, playing baseball. She looked to Timothy who was standing at first base with a glove on, waiting for the hit. How they ended up on opposing teams was still a mystery to her.
After the tense moment earlier, the feelings of sorrow and pain had dissipated with the wind as it blew generously through the park. They had all eaten and enjoyed each other's company, talking about anything other than their work. Soon, someone mentioned the baseball game and Riley found herself taking off her jacket, before trotting off to the outfield. She tried to look the part, but she had no idea what she was doing. After three easy outs that she didn't pay attention to, they all ran in and started a batting order. As she watched her new found friends, she felt something odd in the pit of her stomach. She ignored it and continued to have her fun.
She waited for the pitcher, who just happened to be Eric, to throw the ball, with her bat raised. The ball whizzed past her as she swung the bat missing the ball completely.
"Strike one!" called the umpire, who was Horatio.
Peters, the catcher,stood up and threw the ball back to Eric, saying to Riley, " Maybe you want to stand back off of the plate, and keep your eyes on the ball. Just some friendly advice."
Riley nodded as Eric watched Peters for the signs, then in an act of humor, he motioned for his outfielders to come in. If in the small chance that she did get one off of him, he wanted to be prepared. Eric had been on the losing team for two years straight. Even with his fastball, he could never strike out Speed.
" What's he doing?" Riley asked as she dropped the bat. She was confused.
" He doesn't think that you are going to get very far, so he's calling in his outfielders. He's trying to be funny," Horatio said as Peters gave him the signal. Eric shook his head then nodded when he got the pitch that he wanted.
Riley put the bat up again and focused her attention on Eric. She was mild mannered, but when she was called out, she brought it, no matter what it was. Steadying herself, she watched the ball as it hurled toward her, and she swung, feeling the ball as it cracked off of her bat. She watched the ball as it sailed through the air, and stood with the bat still in hand.
" Riley, run!" Calleigh called as she motioned for her to go.
" What?"
"RUN!"
Riley came to her senses as the outfielders scrambled to get to the ball which was deep in the outfield. She sprinted towards first base, keeping her eyes on Tyler who had just picked up the ball. Timothy smiled at her as she passed him heading to second base, where she saw Alexx running to third base. Tyler had thrown the ball to another CSI , Wolfe and he dropped the ball , causing Eric to slam his glove to the ground. Wolfe scrambled to pick up the ball as Alexx rounded third, making it to home safely. Riley , meanwhile had made it half way to third when she saw the third base man catch the ball. She stopped and turned to go back to second as the ball whizzed over her head to the second baseman. Looking at him, she turned and started to run to the third base, and saw the ball fly past her again.
Please drop it, please, Riley said to herself as she came closer . She was shocked to see the ball fly past the third baseman, who was another tech named Belmontes, and she kept going. Her goal was in her sight as she saw Peters stand up off of his haunches and ready himself for the ball. She pushed harder , just as the ball sailed past her, and then she felt herself fall forward, sliding into the home plate.
" Safe!" Horatio called as she got up. The dirt from the plate had covered her clothes and she was a little out of breath, but she had won the game.
" What?" Peters asked as he stood up. " She was out!"
" She's safe, Peters. It's over," Horatio said with a smile as the team came over .
Eric had a look of light disappointment as he looked heavenward and smiled. It seemed that he had lost another game. He walked up to Riley and flashed a smile, " I thought you said that you never played? That slide was something from the majors."
" I 've never played, but I don't know, it just happened. I had a lot of luck on the way," Riley replied as she dusted herself off. Timothy had took his place beside her and helped her dust off.
" No kidding, Ryan what happened to you, mister butterfingers?" Eric asked glaring at the small man.
" It slipped, Delko. Gosh , it's just a game."
" A game that I would like to win before I die," Eric said. Almost immediately the tension returned. Eric slapped himself unconsciously, it was still too soon to joke around like that, especially after the comment that Calleigh had said to Alexx on the boat that fateful day,
"I think I may kill Speedle..."
" Anyone in need of a drink?" Calleigh said trying to advert another situation.
They all clamored around Calleigh and the cooler filled with gatorade, and congratulated Riley on her winning run. Then all of a sudden, Horatio' s phone rang, destroying the mood completely. Within seconds, the rest of the CSIs phones rang and Riley looked to Timothy for a clue of what was going on.
" They've got a call out," Timothy said as he bent down to her ear.
" Call out?" Riley asked as they all flipped their phones up.
" To a scene. A crime has been committed," Timothy said as he remembered the many call-outs that had ruined his family outings. The job could be cruel when it wanted to be.
" Son, I'm sorry , but I gotta go," Tim said as he picked Timothy up off of the Ducati. They were spending a leisurely day around the house, the younger Tim watching his father do routine maintenance on the Ducati.
" But why daddy?"
" So I can catch the bad guy and put him away," Tim returned softly. As much as he hated to cut his time with his son short, he looked at him and remembered why he had to do this job. He had to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Those like his young son. Seeing his disappointment, Tim ruffled his son's dark hair and said, " I promise when I get back, I'll finish going over the bike with you."
" What if you come home late?"
" I won't, I promise," Tim said to his son. He looked up to acknowledge Calleigh as she came to the door.
" And you never break your promises ,right?"
"Right..."
" The address is 153 Covington Place," Horatio called to his team. " Alexx you won't be needed. The call said something about the paramedics being dispatched."
Riley felt her heart stop as she heard her address. She looked to Timothy , who had a concern look on his face as well, and clutched at his side.
" Horatio, did you say Covington Place?"
" Yes, why?"
"That's where Riley lives," Timothy returned as her gripped tightened.
As if on delay, she yelled out, " Daddy! He was there alone. I've gotta go Speed."
Calleigh's eyes darted to Riley at the mention of his name, noticing as Timothy set in motions his actions. They began to walk in the direction of the Ducati before she came up to them.
" Where do you think you are going?" Calleigh asked them.
" I'm taking her to him," Timothy said with a hint of anger. A crime had been perpetrated against her.
" Timothy, you can't..."
" I can and I will," he returned as they continued to walk to the Ducati faster. In seconds, they were on the bike and speeding out of the parking lot.
TSJ
Timothy had wasted no time in getting to the house, even beating the paramedics . As he got off of the bike, he saw the door opened and his legs as they protruded out . He could hear the sirens approaching as Riley neared him, crying out when she saw him on the ground. His color was ashen , but she noticed that h limply held a white cloth to his chest .
" Is he ?..." Riley asked , the tears coming to her eyes quickly. He was all that she had left.
Timothy saw his chest rising slowly and slight movements, and turned back to her, " No , he isn't dead, but if the paramedics don't get her quickly, he's not going to have a fighting chance."
Seconds later, an ambulance pulled up and two paramedics got the gurney, almost running to the front door. Two Hummers pulled up behind them, Horatio and Calleigh getting out of the first one, and Wolfe and Delko getting out of the second one. Timothy moved Riley so that the paramedics could get to her father.
" What happened here?" one asked.
" I don't know we just got here," Timothy said as he felt Horatio come up beside him. He could feel the tension as it radiated off of him.
" So , who made the call?" the other asked as they worked quickly discarding the white cloth.
The question went unanswered as they continued to work. Timothy thought to himself, Who did call?
Horatio picked up the cloth with his gloved hands and looked it over, " Did you guys use this?"
" It was on his chest when we came up," Timothy offered as he kept an eye on H. This was angering him, the one person who reached out to him was lying on the ground possibly dying.
" You didn't touch him did you?" Calleigh asked looking at the man on the ground. A chest wound, the same as Tim's.
" No, we didn't."
"We are going to need pictures," Horatio said as he moved Riley and Timothy out of the way, " Mr. Wolfe."
" Lieutenant, we are trying to save a life here," the first paramedic said irritated.
"So am I. Mr. Wolfe, work quickly," Horatio said as he put his hands on his hips. Usually he would have on a suit, but being as this was supposed to be a rest day, he found himself feeling at odds with his casual attire.
Wolfe shot several frames as the paramedics continued to work feverishly. They got H onto the gurney and started transport.
" Now , if you are done with your photo shoot, we have to get this man to the hospital," the paramedic said angrily. Valuable seconds were being lost.
Riley watched as they loaded him onto the ambulance, and ran to the back. Timothy followed her and held her back as they closed the doors.
" Tim, I have to be with him. I gotta be with him," Riley said as she let the tears drop.
" I understand, I'll take you," Timothy replied as he held her. They then moved to the Ducati, and he started it.
Calleigh walked over to them and touched his arm, then Riley's , saying, " We are going to find who did this."
Silence returned to her as they pulled away, catching up to the ambulance. Calleigh returned to the door, gazing at the blood pool , her mind reaching into the past, settling at Tim's scene. His last scene.
She hurried into the jewelry store fearful of what she would see. The Hummer had been parked on the side of the road, and her mind instantly went to Horatio. But when she arrived to see Horatio kneeling over his body, Calleigh's mind froze. She wasn't expecting to see him lying there, his blood spreading out from behind him, eyes open seeing nothing. She wasn't expecting to touch his lifeless hand as she knelt down to pick up his gun, smelling his cologne as it mixed with the sickening copper smell. She wasn't expecting this...
"Calleigh!" Horatio called out to her. He instantly saw the scene and he too thought about the jewelry store.
" Huh?" Calleigh said as she surfaced from her state. A single tear had traveled down her face.
" I said are you sure that you are okay to do this?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Horatio. We need to find whoever did this," she said as she picked up her case and walked into the door. This is what mattered right now, when this man was close to heaven's door, they had the power to make it right.
TBC...