Chapter Three:

Horatio sighed and watched the child in front of him. He watched the tears tumble down her cheeks clumsily and in a haphazard fashion.

"Please don't let them get me." Samantha begged, her voice shock. She was frightened for her life. Her eyes sparkled in the bright sunlight, only from the tears that fell.

"Samantha there not going to get you." No matter how many times Horatio said these words they always left him worried. He'd said this to so many people. So many times…so many times he couldn't keep them safe. He couldn't help but wonder…would this kid end up going the same way, would she end up on Alexx's morgue table?

"Pete's dangerous…He was in sixth year when I went in to first year…he was a prefect, if you look at him the wrong way he'd fly of the wall…the man is psychotic!" Samantha explained. "The man is off his fucking nut! You know what would happen if he found out I was here!" Horatio never answer and simply gave Samantha a blank look. "He'd bomb the building off the fucking radar. He would actually level this place, you know that?" Samantha asked searching for a acknowledgement. "The man is a freak!"

"Are you frightened of him?" Samantha looked at Horatio dumbstruck for a moment then blinked.

"Am I frightened of him?" she repeated. "Of course I am fucking frightened of him. Any one who wasn't either had a death wish or need locked up and sectioned under the mental heath act for their own safety!" Samantha cried at Horatio's stupid question. "You know how many of my friends I watched him kill...you know when a girl was too old…when the customers got bored of you…he'd have his fun…then bang…just like that he blew there brains out one by one. We all knew it was coming to us. So we acted sweet and innocent. We played the way they wanted us to. Saffron. She was sixteen when Pete killed her. She looked older than she was…too old for the customers likening so he blew her brains out…and that was it. Then you know what they did. They went out and kidnapped another girl to replace her. They like them young you catch my drift."

"So this was all planed then?"

"Planed? Jesus Christ! It was like a fucking military operation! We were neither seen nor heard…we didn't leave the building. Man half of the girls couldn't speak English!" Samantha explained. "When we arrived here…I don't know how long it took us. I don't remember much of the journey…they kept knocking me out with fucking sleeping pills and then I woke up in Miami. We were all brought in illegally. I mean I know how much shit they could get in to for that! How much shit my brother could be in!"

"Hold on a second." Horatio said cutting in. "Your brother…what about your brother."

"All I know is Pete said to me. 'Your going to repay your brother debt'"

"So your brother was in debt to this man?"

"Yeah. He'd been bumming drugs off him for ages."

"So he owed this guy a lot of money." he stated, repeating the fact as he leaned forward.

"Yeah…I mean a shit load of money. Pete wasn't a bad guy un till he got messed up in drugs."

"Can you elaborate more on this?"

"He was very protective of people he knew. My brother and him were very close after our parents split up. Mum chucked dad out the house and my brother flew off the wall…taking Pete with him. Pete got mixed up in things he shoulder's have had! He was a good guy...un till some twat offered him five grand in cash to take drugs from where ever the hell it was to here in Miami…Pete being Pete managed to get fucking caught…jailed…and ended up staying illegally doing other peoples dirty work."

"How do you know about all this then?"

"Like I say to my mum when she's talking about me to her friends 'The walls have ears you know'"

"So you over heard it?"

"Yeah…all my life people think I'm invisible. People forget I'm here. Comes in handy sometimes though." Horatio looked at the floor and sighed.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked her.

"No thanks."

"Right I'll be back in a moment then." Horatio got up, walking out the room he looked around and spotted Delko. "Delko?"

"Yeah H."

"I need you to run a search on this man Pete Wendiz. Everything you can find out ok."

"Sure" he replied taking the paper out and walking along to his office.

"You know where Speed is?" he asked before Delko was out of

"Yup trace lab."

"Thanks Delko." walking along to the trace lab he spotted Speed . "Speed I need to contact the girls parents and the Scottish police. Let them know we found her and tell them Interpol says we have jurisdiction! Then call her mother and let her know she's safe."

"Right on it H."

Speed picked up the sheet of paper and smiled. For once delivering good news. Picking up the phone he dialled the police number first after several minutes of being put on hold he finally reached the right person.

"Hello. D.C.I Way how may I help?"

"Hi I'm Tim Speedle from the Miami-Dade Crime Labs…I'm calling about the missing persons case regarding a Miss Samantha Le Sommer"

"Yes I was the officer in charge of the case."

"Samantha was found in a house in Miami during a drugs and is currently a witness in a murder. Interpol has granted us jurisdiction so."

"You need the case notes then?" the Scottish man cut him off.

"Yeah…it would help us a lot."

"Okay. I'll fax them over right now." and with that Speedle hung up after reeling off the fax number the customary pleasantries, only to dial another number. He listened to the Scottish dial tone and the double pulse with the silence then the double pulse again. On the fifth ring a woman answered.

"Hello?"

"Please may I speak with Miss Heather Le Sommer?"

"Speaking." the reply came, slightly nervously.

"My name is Tim Speedle I'm calling from the Miami-Date Police…your daughter was found last night, Alive and well." There was silence on the end of the phone. "Miss."

"Yes…you …found my Sammie."

"Yes." Speedle heard her sniff on the other side of the line, he could tell she was crying. "Samantha is a witness in an ongoing case here in Miami."

"But she is safe with you isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then as long as she's willing to help I don't mind how long she is there for…as long as I know she is safe."

"Now If you have any questions you can phone me or the officer in charge Lieutenant Horatio Caine on 011-445-550-596"

"Thank you thank you." she said though tears.

"No bother ma'am." After reassuring the woman her daughter was safe and collecting the faxes from the Scottish police force he set out on his mission to find Horatio, he stumbled upon him in the corridor talking to Delko.

"The guy was arrested four years ago for drug smuggling from Cuba to here."

"Great, you find out anything else?"

"Yeah, that the guy is dead." There was silence,

"How?"

"According to his file, a gang land shooting…his body was meant to have been dumped in the ocean but its never been found." Delko explained.

"Yes well, people fake deaths. Not the first time we've come across it." Horatio explained, his hand on his hip, its usual resting spot. Speed simply handed him the manila folder.

"Called the Scot's, they faxed us a copy of the case file…transcripts and everything. Called the mother as well."

"How did she react."

"I think she went in to shock and couldn't quite believe it." Speed answered.

"What are we going to do with the kid?" Delko asked out of curiosity. There was a moments silence as Horatio looked at the floor thinking.

"Protective custody?" Suggested Speed shrugging his shoulders.

"You read my mind Speed." Horatio said walking back to the interview room, where he found the teen head down on the table fast asleep, he smiled to himself and cursed that he had to wake her up.