Chapter 9

No one said it would be easy
But no one said it'd be this hard
No one said it would be easy
No one thought we'd come this far

"No One Said It Would Be Easy", Sheryl Crow

Calleigh sighed as she got back into the truck. The nearest hotel wound up being the next exit up the interstate, which was ten miles away. The roads were now merely wet, not icy, and wet pavement was well within her capabilities as a driver. But the guy working the front desk at the Best Western had told her that when the sun went down, the temperatures would drop and it would get icy again, so she really wanted to get back to the police station before that happened.

I haven't called Alexx, she realized suddenly. She glanced at the clock. She probably had a good half hour before it started to get dark, which should be enough time to call home.

"Alexx Woods."

"Hey, it's me," she said. "Sorry I didn't call earlier."

"No, sugar, it's fine. Are you guys all right?" Alexx asked.

"Mostly, yeah. We're here and when I left the station they were working on getting a warrant for the suspect's arrest. Tim saw the photograph and he said it might be the right guy, but I don't know," she sighed. "He's a little strung out, I'm not entirely sure he isn't just saying what he thinks we want to hear."

"Poor baby. All of you," Alexx said. "Timmy's not doing so well?"

Calleigh shrugged, even though she knew Alexx couldn't see. "Hard to tell. He was doing fairly well earlier today, despite having one of his night terror episodes last night, but then we hit the mountains and there was…oh, what did he call it? Freezing rain?" she said. "Yeah, that's it. Freezing rain."

"Tim's not a big fan of winter," Alexx said.

"Yeah, I know that now. We skidded- I was driving, it was scary. But, it was kind of interesting, too; as soon as I started to panic, Tim just started snapping instructions at me like he knew what he was talking about and got us over to a rest area, and then just insisted on driving. He's not been doing things like that, you know?" Calleigh said.

"He probably looked at you and looked at Horatio and realized that he was the Yankee stuck in the car with Southerners," Alexx said, sounding amused.

"I'm willing to bet that's exactly what he was thinking," Calleigh agreed. "But we had to stop and buy some warmer clothing, and after that, Tim was just kind of…out of it. Quiet like. I'm half thinking he was freaking a bit, after that, but he just kind of retreated like he does and I couldn't tell for sure. It wasn't a full blown panic attack, but it was something. He's with Horatio at the police station now. I tried to convince him to come with me to find a hotel for the night and take a nap, but he wouldn't. I didn't want to push it."

"No, probably better to let him have his head," Alexx said.

"I did make him take the Ativan. He doesn't need to be freaking out in the middle of a police station in mostly rural North Carolina," Calleigh said, dryly. "And I really don't want to deal with him doing that and deal with Horatio's single-mindedness right now."

"Baby, I don't blame you one bit. How much longer are you going to be out there?" Alexx asked.

Calleigh sighed. "I have no idea. I'm really hoping that they get the warrant, pick this guy up, and figure it all out tonight so we can get on the road tomorrow. I don't know if I have that kind of luck, though." She just wanted to go home.

"Well, I'll keep praying for your luck, how's that sound?" Alexx said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. Everything ok there?" she asked.

"We're all just fine. Kara's doing fine, the newbies are fine," Alexx assured her.

"Good." At least she didn't have to worry about Miami, too. "All right, I had better get back before they send someone out to find me," she said.

"Ok, honey. You call us when you're heading south again, ok?" Alexx said. "Or if you need anything before then. Anytime, sugar."

"Thanks, Alexx," she said.

"I'll talk to you later. Tell Timmy and Horatio I said hi." Alexx said.

"Will do. Talk to you later," Calleigh said, before hanging up. She turned the car on and drove back towards town.

When she arrived back at the police station about twenty minutes later, she discovered that it was a hive of activity. "What's happening?" she asked Ronnie, who was sitting at a desk looking at something on his computer screen.

"Oh, hi, Calleigh," he said. "Well, we brought Markham in, and Speed identified him, and we're talking to him right now. I'm looking up extradition information."

"Wait, wait, it is Markham?" she asked, surprised. She had honestly believed that nothing was going to come of this.

"It is. We ran his prints through AFIS and popped a match," Ronnie nodded.

"Oh, my God," she breathed. "Where's Horatio and Tim? Do they know yet?"

Ronnie shook his head. "I haven't told them yet, this just happened not even five minutes ago, that we got a match. Speed didn't give us the name, unless he told Horatio afterwards."

"Tim ID'd him?" she asked, trying to follow the threads of the story.

"He came down and looked and said that he thought it was the guy who attacked him. And then he kind of walked out. Horatio went after him, I haven't seen either of them since," Ronnie said.

"Ok," Calleigh said. "So, you're talking to him now."

"Yeah, we're trying to see what we can get out of him. I'd turn Horatio loose on him, but I don't think that's such a hot idea."

"No, don't, please?" Calleigh said. "That's a really bad idea."

"I thought so. I was just as happy that he went after Speed instead of sticking around for the questioning. We've got the info from your files, so we've got plenty enough to go on. And we might be rural, but we're pretty good, too," Ronnie said.

"Wouldn't surprise me at all," Calleigh said. "So you have no idea where Tim and Horatio are?"

"Not a one," Ronnie said. "I think they may have taken a walk; Tim looked pretty shaken up." She nodded. "I'd better get back there."

"Go, I'll find them," she said.

She didn't have to look far; they came through the back door of the station just as she was about to go check the back parking lot. "There you are," she said.

"There you are," Horatio said, his face rosy from the cold.

She looked at them both. Horatio looked fine. Tim looked like hell. Great, she thought. "Ronnie says they got print hits off of AFIS. The guy they picked up is Andrew Markham. I was coming to look for you to tell you."

Tim's eyes widened a bit, and his face paled even more. "Really?" he whispered, hoarsely.

"Really," Calleigh nodded.

Tim's mouth moved in a soundless "oh," and he turned to look back out the window. She and Horatio both looked at him and then traded concerned looks.

"I got a hotel room," she said, pulling Horatio a bit away from Tim.

"Good," Horatio said, still looking at Tim, who was standing frozen in shock.

"I'm going to take Tim back there now," she said, making an executive decision to get him out of there.

"I think that would be a good idea. He had a panic attack out there," Horatio said quietly.

"I could tell," she said. "Anyway, the hotel is at the next exit up. The Best Western," she said.

"Why don't you go and I'll stay here and see if Ronnie needs anything. I'll call you when I know something," Horatio said.

She nodded. "Ok." Horatio turned to go back down the hall and she reached out to touch Tim's shoulder. "Come on, bud. We're gonna get out of here."

He followed her obediently and let her put him in the car. "You all right?" she asked as they started heading for the interstate.

"I don't…maybe," he said. "I don't think…I wasn't sure he was the right guy, I still don't…I'm still not sure," he stuttered.

"Ah," Calleigh said. "They have prints, Tim. It's not all on your ID."

"I don't…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "It's all…"

"I know," she said softly. "You had to do that, and then you went outside and things weren't good?" she asked.

He nodded. "It was…I forgot it was pretty," he said, distantly. But before Calleigh could reply, he broke down crying. She tried to reach out to touch his arm, but he shrunk back. There wasn't much use trying to do anything when he was like that. All she could do was wait it out.

He cried almost the entire way to the hotel, but was almost calm by the time they arrived. She pulled up into the parking space and looked at him. "Ok?" she asked.

"Ok," he said.

"All right. Let's get you inside," she said. She led him to the room, opened the door and let him in. He sat down on a bed as she went into the bathroom and got a wet washcloth and a glass of water. She dug in the pocket of her coat for the bottle of pills and shook one out to break in half. He was still sitting with his coat on. "Hey, come on, let's get your coat off, ok?"

He nodded as she set the things down on the nightstand and peeled him out of his coat and shoes. "Here," she said, handing him the washcloth. He swiped at his face as she pulled the bedspread off the bed and pulled back the covers. "Ok, take this," she said, giving him the half a pill and the water. He did so, and curled up in the bed. She stretched out next to him, and reached out to brush back his hair. "Better?" she asked.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Good," she said. "Close your eyes." He was asleep within minutes.

She stayed with him on the bed, making sure he was calm, until her cell phone rang. She sat up and answered it. "Duquesne."

"It's me," Horatio said. "It's over."

"What?" she asked. "What happened?"

"He confessed…it's over." Horatio sounded dazed.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"The station."

"Ok, Tim's asleep, let me write him a note and I'll come get you," she said.

"Please?" Horatio asked.

"I'm on my way," she said, softly, hanging up the phone.

Horatio was waiting outside of the station when she pulled up. He seemed to have pulled himself together in the twenty minutes it had taken her to return to town. "Hi," he said, getting in the car.

"Hi," she replied.

"Do you want me to drive?" he asked.

"The roads are ok, I can do it," she said.

"All right." He sat back in the seat and looked pensive.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not…I'm really not entirely sure," he admitted. "They went in there and confronted him with the AFIS information and the next thing I knew, they were bringing me a written confession. It was just that fast."

"Wow," Calleigh said.

"Yeah. I'm glad you left when you did. Tim didn't need to be there for that, I don't think. He didn't need to see the confession," Horatio said.

"No. He does not," Calleigh said firmly.

"He's sleeping?" he asked.

"Yeah. He'll probably sleep for a couple hours now, he missed his usual nap. Plus, he's tanked out on Ativan," she sighed. "How bad was this panic attack?"

Horatio shook his head. "I'm not sure. I thought he was going to have a heart attack, but he said it was just panic. He wasn't making a lot of sense at first."

"That's usual," Calleigh said. "I should have expected it. He hasn't left Miami in five years, did you know that?"

"I didn't," Horatio admitted. "By choice, I take it."

"If by choice, you mean compulsion, yeah," Calleigh said. She leaned her head back and closed her aching eyes. She was just so tired.

"Calleigh?" Horatio asked, sounding concerned.

She opened her mouth to reassure him that she was fine, but without warning, she dissolved into tears. "Oh, God…" she choked. "I'm so tired."

"Shh, shh, it's ok," Horatio said, reaching out to touch her arm.

"I'm sorry," she said, around the tears. "But…Eric's gone, and Tim's so sick, and you're more than half distracted and there's so much to do and I'm just here trying to hold the middle together and I'm just so tired I don't even know what to do anymore."

"No, no, don't be sorry," Horatio said. He fished around in the glove compartment and came up with some tissues. "Here, it's ok."

She took the tissues and blew her nose. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry. I should have been more help," he said.

"No, it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. And Tim probably wouldn't have let you help anyway. He's stubborn about that," she sighed.

"Well, what can I do for you now?" Horatio asked. "Tell me what you need."

"Take us home?" she asked, wanly. "I don't know how people stand this for months. It's so cold. No wonder Tim moved to Miami," she shivered.

"I can do that. Do you want to go tonight?" Horatio asked.

She sighed, but shook her head. "I already paid for the hotel rooms."

"That's not a problem. If the department won't approve the charge because we didn't stay, I'll pay for them," he said. "If you want to leave tonight, we will. It's that simple."

She smiled slightly, but shook her head again. "Thank you, but no, let's just stay here tonight. Tim's asleep, and I really don't like waking him up. Plus, we already drove nearly eight hours today. I'm exhausted, you're probably not much better off, and Tim's drugged out of his mind. It's better to just stay here tonight and get some rest."

"You're right," Horatio said. "Do you feel a little better?"

"I do, actually," she admitted.

"Would dinner make you feel even better?" Horatio asked.

"Definitely," she said, realizing suddenly that she was starving.

"All right, then. If Tim's asleep and not likely to wake up anytime soon, why don't we get ourselves some dinner, pick something up for him to eat later, and then go get some sleep," Horatio said.

"That sounds wonderful," she said, just glad that someone other than her was taking charge of the situation.

"Then that's what we'll do. Here, let me drive," Horatio said, opening the car door.

She let him switch places with her and let him drive up the road towards the interstate. It was over, she thought. But at the same time it wasn't. It wouldn't be over until Tim recovered, and she was honestly beginning to despair of that ever happening. Enough, she thought. Food. Bed. That was all she could handle tonight. She would think about the rest of it later.