Chapter 3: Horatio's Silent Defeat

18:24

Hummer

Horatio threw the Hummer into top speed, sending them flying forwards. His heart was in overdrive and he had begun to sweat. That scream was playing back and forth in his mind, that cry of pain. Alexx was staring over at him, her eyes wide, for the sound had come to her too. Tears were beginning in her eyes and her brain seemed to be blasting an alarm into her ears. Horatio's voice seemed to come in however, fighting its way through the mess of her brain.

"Alexx, call the others. NOW!" He said urgently as he did a full turn with the Hummer. Alexx did as she was told and whipped out her cell phone. The number dialled instantly and immediately. There was one short ring and then…

18:20

Miami CSI Building, Locker Room

"Ryan Wolfe."

"Ryan!" Alexx said, so quickly that she startled herself. "Calleigh is being attacked. Get Delko and Yelina down at her house A.S.A.P!"

"Right, be down there soon." Ryan answered and he ended the call. He quickly rushed off to DNA. As he burst through the doors, Delko looked up, slightly stunned.

"Delko, quick, you have to come with me." Ryan said breathlessly. Delko saw the look on Ryan's face and dumped his white coat and ran off behind him.

"What's going on, Ryan?" He asked as they got in the lift.

"Calleigh is being attacked." Ryan replied quickly. Delko eyes were wide.

"What? Wait, what about H?"

"They're on their way down there now. We just need to…" He was cut off by the opening of the doors and Yelina walked in.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, looking to one to the other. Ryan pressed the lower floor button and said, "Right, now we can go."

18:24

Hummer

As Horatio pummelled down the road toward Calleigh's house, he began to feel the sick weary feeling of sheer horror in the bottom of his stomach. It was then that he got the flashback of the day when he watch Tim Speedle die in the line of fire. He hoped, prayed even that he wouldn't be doing that in a few moments time. With a sudden pang, he realised that they were coming up to Calleigh's house. Already, he could see skid marks, plainly fresh, in a lone line across the tarmac outside. The Hummer slowed to a stop. Horatio swiftly got out of it, bringing his gun out. It felt cold against his sweaty palms as he drew towards the open door. Everything was gently silent, apart from a small drip of something inside. Counting to three, Horatio kicked the door open wide and thrust his gun forward. There was nothing there. All that he could see was a small pool of blood on the floor, which something had been dragged out of. Horatio felt a surge of a relief, but that soon washed over by sheer panic. He stepped forward into the bathroom, when he saw Calleigh's home phone on the floor. It looked as though someone had smashed it to bits with their foot. In the sink was more blood, but it looked as though it was being washed away.

Horatio withdrew his gun, his mind exploding with thoughts of what could have happened. He felt a draft on the side of his arm and turned round sharply. There was no one there. He looked to the window. A small hole, about half a centimetre in diameter, was in the glass. Large cracks flew over the window where it had been struck. Horatio felt a twisting feeling in his gut as he saw blood spatter on the window also. Calleigh must have been shot here. Through the window he saw Alexx standing by Calleigh's hummer, one hand over her mouth, her eyes large. Swiftly, Horatio went out over to her.

"Please don't say she's in there, Horatio." Alexx begged, her voice cracked and unstable as she looked up at Horatio.

"No, Alexx. They've taken her with them. But she was shot." Horatio replied, his own eyes darker and filled with some kind of emotion that was indescribable. Now both hands were over Alexx's face and tears began to form.

"I should have known, Horatio. I should have guessed what was going on when I saw her hand in the first place." She sobbed. Suddenly they both looked up as another vehicle came crashing down the road. Delko was in the driver's seat, his own face contorted into silent anguish. But all that Horatio was thinking silently was his own silent defeat.

18:56

Location Unidentified, Miami

The building was old and derelict, vandalised by teens and battered by the weather. No window remained intact, it's glass green and cloudy. The brink work was crumbling slowly and it wouldn't be long before the whole building gave way.

Inside, three men sat at a table, waiting for one other to finish their work on the girl they had captured. All three of them had sweat on their brow and their hands shaking slightly in their pockets. One had dark brown short hair and a visible beard starting to grow. His name was Derek, a registered sex offender, known as 'Jack-Knife' because of what he did to his victims straight after raping them. The man sat next to him had neck length black hair, which had streaks of silver at the ends. His name was Charlie. He was only known for petty crimes, threatening and abuse. The man sat facing them was much older, about in his 40. His own hands, were on the table. They were not shaking, a visible sign that he had done this before. His own hair was grey, short, but enough to be wavy on his head. His name was Samuel, but known as Sammy in his line of work. He had never been caught for his crimes, he had outwitted the likes of the Police before, but had only just got away from CSI. But that was why they were here, that was why they had kidnapped the ballistics girl. CSI. Lieutenant Caine. Caine had come so close to putting him to the lethal injection, but his brother had not been so lucky. Three years he had planned this, three years of stewing over that wretched Caine. Now this was his payback. Now, it was his turn to see how he liked it. Sammy had watched Caine and this girl a lot recently, seen the way they looked at one another, how Caine would stop her from being hurt all of the time. But he wasn't going to do any of that this time. This time, it would be lights out for him.

The door beside them opened and the final man came out, wiping sweat from his cheeks. He looked over at them all, then took a swig out of his flask.

"The bullet took forever to take out, but it's in there right now. We're lucky it didn't hit one of her arteries, I can say that." He said breathlessly.

"How long can she stay like this until she requires proper medical attention, Mike?" Sammy asked, his hands pressed together. Mike ran a hand over his bald head.

"Well, if I can attend to the bullet wound everyday, check to see if any of the stitching has come loose, it'll be about a week tops." He replied. Charlie looked scared for a moment.

"A week? Caine would have found us then with his bloody team. We would have to move locations definitely!" He said, wining slightly. Sammy frowned at him.

"Why would we do that?" He asked.

"Well…" Charlie looked at him for a moment, his hands moving about him, "That team tracks down anything from anyone! What if they do find this place!"

"They won't." Sammy said simply.

"But…"

"They won't!" Sammy snapped, his voice firm and cold. Charlie fell silent instantly, a short pang of hate throbbing in his throat. But he knew that if anyone stood up to Sammy, it's a bullet in the head.

Sorry, bad ending, I know, but i will put up the next chapter onFriday! Sorry I can't put much, because I have the evil homeowrk to do, so please review, becuase it help's me loads!

TheNextTitan