4.

She really wasn't up to questioning Horatio noted, not at the moment and he knew only too well that traumatic events tended to get buried by the memory. He also knew that direct questioning on such an event would lead nowhere. The drugs in her system were reclaiming her and he could see the dullness in her eyes; yet when he was about to get up and leave, she woke enough to say that he didn't have to go and he had to admit that her room at least was a lot quieter than his as his associates kept invading now and then to check up on him and ask him questions about the incident.

Noting that it was rather unusual for him anyway, being stuck there on Doctor's orders, he stayed. For a little while he studied Schell as she slept, but eventually his gaze drifted outside and he was lost to his thoughts. A nurse eventually intruded in on his reflections and he was startled to see that it had grown dark.

"Lieutenant Caine?" she asked again and he glanced over at her with a questioning look.

She smiled and said in a soft voice. "You have a long distance call in your room, from someone named Alex?"

"Ah…" he said and levered himself up out of the chair. "Thank you…" he added then paused before leaving Schell's room. Reaching for a notepad as the nurse began checking Schell's vital signs, he wrote a quick note, tore it off the pad, folded it and slipped it into Schell's hand before leaving the room.

"Hello?" he said upon returning to his room and taking up the phone's receiver.

"Horatio Caine?" Alexx said. "What on God's green earth did you go and do now?"

Horatio, alone in his room, smiled in genuine pleasure. "Just what I always do, Alexx."

"That's not what I've heard." Alexx replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"And just what have you heard? I'm a very long way from Miami at the moment," he replied back,

"Darlin', you've had all the rumor-mongers having a field day in the lab."

"News travels fast."

"Especially when it hits CNN. What were you thinking of, jumping into that water up there, it's a hell of a lot colder there than it is here."

"That, Alexx, is a fact." Horatio replied dryly.

"Are you really all right, Horatio?" she asked, her voice full of concern. Theirs had been a long and well-established friendship.

"Yes, Alexx, I am fine, I'd be even better if they'd let me out of this place."

He heard her chuckle. "Good because you are sounding entirely too chipper and I was gonna say something to your doctor about your dosages. Sugar, just what exactly happened?"

"We were on a cruise of Puget Sound and I spotted a sailboat drifting into the channel that the ferry was in. Something was definitely wrong and when the lady on the boat came running back on deck I knew that unless she got off, the ferry was going to hit it. As it happened, the boat blew up, she went into the water and you do the math."

"You dove in after her. How very you." Alexx replied. "How long were you in the water?"

"About twenty minutes."

He could almost see the look of alarm in Alexx's eyes as she processed that information.

"Horatio, why did it take…" she started to speak, but he gently interrupted her.

"We were in the middle of the bay, Alexx. Any rescue crew would have taken at least fifteen minutes to get there. We were picked up by the ferry crew in their lifeboat."

"And by that time your body temperatures would have been dropping." Alexx finished for him. "So how is the girl?"

"Good actually, Alexx." he said sitting on the edge of his bed. "Only has a concussion. She's a bit groggy at the moment, and sore naturally; we both are. Other than that there should be a good ending to this,"

"Should be?" Alexx asked. "Why do I get the feeling there's more to this than you're telling?"

"Because there is," Horatio smiled again. "She saw something inside the cabin before it blew up. Something that scared her enough to start running."

"You've been in talking to her." Alexx stated.

"I wanted to see for myself that she was all right."

"Like half this department would like to say of you." she replied, mirth in her voice. "So what are you going to do now, Horatio?"

"Do?" he asked her, eyebrows rising as he stared out his window.

"I know you too well, sugar." Alexx said. "You realize that trying to figure this out is going to be tricky not being in your jurisdiction."

"I am aware of that." Horatio said.

"And?" Alexx nudged gently.

"I told her not to worry about it and that I'd help her out. The detective up here told her they were considering criminal charges against her, but my instincts are telling me that she was the victim. Of what remains the question."

"And you aren't going to let it go."

"Do I ever?"

Alexx chuckled again. "So does this mystery girl have a name?"

"Schell Demereau."

"The marine artist?" Alexx asked him in genuine surprise.

"Yeah, what do you know about her?" Horatio asked.

"Just that she's an up and coming artist on the brink of making it very big. Her paintings are gaining a lot of attention from collectors, especially maritime collectors. She specializes in shipwrecks. And she's very good."

"And you know this how?" Horatio asked again.

"Darlin', you know my husband is fond of nautical things. He's got several of Geoff Hunt's prints, he's shown me some of the artists who specialize in this type of work. If you can get in with the big boys you have a guaranteed market! And Schell Demereau is right there."

"Including special commissions?" he asked. Alexx could hear the investigator in Horatio's voice and chuckled again.

"Including special commissions. The thing about this kind of artist is, once you make it big? You're set for life. They only increase in value and even more so when the artist passes on."

"Hmmm," Horatio murmured.

"I've heard that sound before." Alexx teased.

"Tell everyone I'm fine." He replied.

"You stay in touch." Alexx shot back.

"Yes, Mother." Horatio replied to her chuckling, and he gently hung up the phone.