Changes in the Wind

Skewed Perception

Why he ever thought tracking down chainsaws purchased in the greater Miami area over the last month was going to be either simple or painless, he couldn't say, because this task was proving to be both time consuming and headache inducing. Like it or not, this was exactly how he was spending his Saturday, because right now, it was the only solid lead they had, which made this task his top priority. If tracking down chainsaws wasn't hard enough, tracking down those paid for in cash was proving next to impossible. So far he'd been able to locate seven thanks to credit card receipts, but all proved clean and not the murder weapon he was looking for. He was still searching for six, having given up, at least for now, on the three paid for with cash. If those six yielded nothing, he would have to go further back into store records and even then, that information only helped if the chainsaw in question was purchased new. If, per chance, it was bought used, borrowed, or stolen, they were really out of luck. Fortunately, the particular model they were looking at had only been on the market a year and a half. That was something in their favor, he thought glumly, as he poured himself a fourth cup of coffee.

Between his current caseload and Calleigh's absence, not to mention the mystery of the phone message, there had been enough on his mind to keep him awake a good portion of the night. There was no question he would soon pay the price for the lack of sleep, he only hoped it wouldn't come to him in the form of another killer headache. Already, he could feel the fatigue clawing at the back of his eyes and the muscles in his neck and shoulders tensing. The chainsaw case in particular was weighing him down and it didn't look as if it would be coming to a tidy conclusion any time soon.

Wincing at the bitter taste of the hot coffee he just gulped, he hoped it would provide him with a much needed jolt of energy. More caffeine probably wasn't the best thing for him, but a nap was out of the question. Nowhere near finished with his current search for the murder weapon, he'd also failed to make a dent in the mound of trash collected at the dump site. Some cigarette butts found at the site had been swabbed for DNA, but gave them no hits off CODIS. That was as far as he'd gotten. Sighing heavily, he leaned against the break room counter and gave up thinking about his case for a moment to contemplate his absent girlfriend instead.

The two had been missing each other on the phone all day. Just another in a series of frustrations handed to him on a shiny silver platter. He tried to reach her first thing in the morning to both, say hello and give her the phone messages, but had to settle for leaving voice mail on her cell. Since he was stuck in interrogation for most of the morning, her return call went straight to his voice mail. Twice more they missed each other and he wondered if he ought to try again now while he had a minute. Checking his watch, he mentally ran her day's schedule through his head. The seminar finished a couple hours ago, which meant she was now on her own and probably reachable. Of course, she could be on a plane heading home to Miami, but she'd chosen to stay in Atlanta, a decision that still rankled him, even though he was trying not to be possessive of her or her time.

Still, something about this Atlanta trip didn't sit well with him. Too many details seemed shrouded in mystery, like her failure to mention the lecture invite in the first place, or the extra day in Atlanta he found out about at the last minute. Then there was her recent state of preoccupation that he found puzzling. Of course, it could all mean nothing and simply be the product of an overactive imagination. He knew that where Calleigh was concerned he had a tendency to throw rational thought right out the window. Ever since that night in the parking lot all those months ago when he'd lost his head and his heart to her, nothing he did or thought surprised him anymore. That was something he was going to have to work on if theirs was to be a successful partnership.

Wandering to the sofa, he sank into the cushions, put his coffee on the table and dialed first her room and then her cell. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and listened to sound of ringing.

"Hello?" A smile crossed his lips upon hearing her familiar southern drawl.

"Hey," he greeted, pleased to have finally reached her. "We keep missing each other."

"Hi. I know. I'm sorry I missed your calls. I did get your messages. Thanks. Did you get mine?"

"Yeah," he answered having difficulty hearing her over the noise in the background. "Where are you? Sounds like you're outside."

"I am. We're waiting for a table. Hang on." He was tempted to ask who the we in that statement was, but thought better of it. If she wanted him to know, she'd tell him. "Better?" she asked after a moment.

"A little. So how'd it go today? Did you impart your vast ballistics expertise to all of the attendees?"

"Yes, I did my best," she answered with a laugh. "Everything went very well, but I'm glad it's over."

"Glad it went well for you, I never doubted your ability to fascinate and educate. Did you get much out of any of the lectures you attended?"

"Hmm, maybe a little. I have some interesting handouts to share with ya'll."

"You about to have dinner now?"

"Yeah. How about you, still as busy?" she asked, sounding distracted.

"Still at it, making no headway," he said with a heavy sigh of frustration. "I'm hoping to get out of here at a reasonable hour, but there's way too much to leave undone till tomorrow. Even if I leave it, it never quite leaves me, ya know what I mean?"

"That's good," she said, although it was hard for him to make out over the din surrounding her.

"Huh?" he asked, curious if he had heard her right.

"What? Oh, sorry. I meant it would be good if you could get out of there sometime. Can you hang on a sec, Tim?" Fine, he grumbled to himself with an exasperated sigh. There were muffled sounds, but he couldn't make out any of what was being said, or who was doing the talking. "I'll be just a minute." He heard that clearly, but didn't think she was talking to him. "I can't really talk now, it's too loud out here and I think our table is ready," she said. This, he assumed was meant for him. Apparently, he wouldn't be learning who her dinner companions for the evening were. He knew she was seeing Liza, a good friend from college she hadn't seen in awhile, but he still didn't know who the guy on the answering machine was, or how many other people she knew in Atlanta.

"Yeah, okay. We can talk later, I don't want to keep you and I have to get back to work. If I ever get out of here tonight, I'm supposed to meet up with Delko, but I won't be staying out late. I'm pretty tired and I've got to be back here early in the morning anyway."

"I've been trying all day to change my flight, but so far I'm not having any luck. But, we'll talk soon, okay?" she continued, though the background noise made it hard to hear very well.

"What? You're changing your flight again?" he asked, wondering what that meant.

"Soon, okay? Bye Tim."

"Yeah, fine. Bye Cal. I love you."

"Bye."

"Yeah, I love you, too, Tim," he said sarcastically to himself, as he stared at the phone in his hand before putting it back on his hip. That was odd, he thought. Somehow, instead of putting his mind at ease, this brief conversation only served to mix him up more than he already was. Rubbing first his eyes and then his temples, he slowly worked himself off the couch, easing the kinks out of his back and neck. Time to trade one frustration for another and get back to work, he mused as he headed to the sink with his coffee cup.

Hours later, engrossed in the duct tape sample he was viewing under the microscope, he never heard Horatio come in. "H. Hey. Didn't know you were there," he said with a yawn he couldn't stifle.

"And I didn't know you were still here, I thought you left awhile ago. Anything I need to know?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah. There's a lot of completely useless trash and junk now taking up space in our lab," Tim answered with aggravation, earning an understanding smile from his boss. "But honestly, I've got nothing. At least nothing that ties anything to anyone in particular. Alexx found some duct tape and tape residue on two different vic's ankles and I can match it to the duct tape samples we found at the scene, but that's as much as we have. I tried fuming all the samples, but haven't gotten a single print. Nothing. Guy must've worn gloves, that's all I can think," Tim said, shaking his head and breathing in deeply, his frustration wafting off him.

"Sounds very likely, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to find him. He's left something of himself somewhere. We haven't found it yet, but we're not through looking, are we?"

"This sample looks ripped off the roll, so, no tool marks to match," he said with a nod towards the microscope. "Same as all the others I've checked. But I still have more trash to sort through, so maybe I'll have better luck with a different piece," he said and although the words were optimistic, his tone told a different story. "I should be done with trash sorting by now, but tracking down all the chainsaws took up a ridiculous amount of time."

"Don't worry about that. Better you do a thorough job, than risk missing something. Eric will be in tomorrow, and I'll be a little more available, so we'll have more hands on this case."

"That'll help," Tim said, sighing loudly. "Have we gotten any information on the third girl yet? Has anyone come forward to claim her?" Horatio shook his head with downcast eyes. "I don't get that. You would think someone might have noticed this girl was missing. She can't be more than nineteen or twenty. I don't understand people," he said with disgust.

"It isn't always easy, is it?"

"No, it isn't and this guy has covered his tracks well. I gotta tell you, I'm not feeling optimistic about any of this stuff we've collected leading us anywhere," Tim said, waving his hand in at the many evidence bags littering the table in front of him.

"Okay, this is what I think. You go home now and come back to this in the morning with a fresh pair eyes," Horatio suggested.

"I don't mind staying with this a bit longer," Tim protested.

"Speed, this isn't a suggestion. You've been at this for three straight days and you look like you could use a break. Tired eyes can lead to mistakes and we wouldn't want that. Everything will still be here tomorrow," Horatio said kindly, but firmly.

"Yeah, okay," Tim agreed reluctantly. As hard as it was to leave knowing he'd made little headway, Horatio was right about fatigue setting in and skewing his perception. Checking his watch, he raised his eyebrows in surprise when he discovered it was already after eight o'clock. Grabbing his cell, he hoped there was still time to catch Delko. A beer was definitely on his horizon, a beer, a decent meal and sleep. If he couldn't have Calleigh with him tonight, then those would have to do.

Fortunately, he caught up with his buddy, who chose a bar with a decent menu that wasn't far from the lab. Tim wrapped up his paperwork quickly, saw the evidence safely put away and left without delay. It was close to nine by the time he met his friend and by that point, he was beyond hungry. Joining Delko at the bar, the two agreed the subject of work was off limits, at least until tomorrow. Tim realized too late, he should've made his love life off limits as well, but knowing Delko as he did, that would've done little to dissuade him. The threesome was close, with Delko spending many evenings and sharing countless meals with the pair, but despite that, he still reveled in giving Tim a hard time whenever he could.

"I'm assuming you've made adequate birthday plans?" Eric asked above the din in the bar, taking Tim out of his head and momentarily away from his chicken fajita. He looked quizzically at his friend, before he figured out where this was going. "Calleigh's birthday, it's in just a few days," Eric continued as if Tim might be unaware of this little detail.

"I realize that. I do know when her birthday is. I got it covered," Tim said between bites.

"Well, after the big Valentine's Day screw-up, I had to make sure. Just watching your back, no need to thank me," Eric told him proudly with a grin.

Tim groaned. Forget one holiday and now he was never going to live it down, at least not with Delko. "Could we just forget Valentine's day? I made up for that, quite nicely as a matter of fact and she forgave me."

"She was too easy on you. I would've made you suffer," Eric taunted.

"You are making me suffer, because you keep bringing it up," Tim replied.

"So, what are the birthday plans?" Eric asked. Tim shot him an aggravated look, but Eric seemed oblivious, now that he was on a roll.

"Do you need to know everything?" Tim questioned, before taking a slug of his beer.

"Yes, I do. She's my friend, too. I need to know you're doing right by her."

"Fine, if you have to know everything, I'm taking her to dinner, I have reservations at her favorite restaurant," Tim answered smugly.

"Have I been there or heard of it?"

"Don't know. It's where we went the first time we went out and she really likes the place. They have excellent desserts and it's right on the water, the two most important details as far as Calleigh is concerned."

"Well, I'll be, there's a romantic hidden under that scruffy, rumpled exterior," Eric laughed. "Who would've thought it?"

"Satisfied?"

"Not quite. What about a gift?"

"I have a nice gift for her and don't bother asking cause I'm not going to tell you what it is."

"Fair enough. What about flowers?"

"Flowers?" Tim asked, giving that one a bit of thought. He had neglected to get her flowers for Valentine's Day and still felt bad about that. Maybe it would be nice to surprise her with flowers on her birthday and maybe Delko wasn't a complete pain in the ass. "Yeah, okay, flowers would be a nice touch," he conceded.

"You're learning Speedle. Someday you may be able to manage without my help," Eric said with mock seriousness.

"Right," Tim replied with a chuckle. "This coming from the guy who can't keep straight which girl he's seeing when." They both laughed at that. Tim was pleased he'd put careful thought into Calleigh's birthday. Disappointing her on Valentine's Day still stung and he didn't want a repeat performance.

The pair finished their meal and for Tim, fatigue set in shortly after the plates were cleared. It had been a long couple of days and he decided to call it a night after Eric took to the dance floor with an attractive blonde, which only served to remind Tim of the blonde he was currently missing.

Once home, he made a beeline for the phone. Examining his watch, he knew he risked waking her at this late hour, but he needed to hear her voice and say goodnight. Things had been strange the past couple weeks, in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on and he knew he'd sleep easier if he talked to her before turning in. He grabbed her hotel phone number off the counter and made his way out to the balcony. It was quiet outside this late at night, and the temperature was mild for a late February night.

Since he'd moved in, he'd grown fond of the balcony porch and took to spending time out there most evenings or mornings or both, either with or without Calleigh. Sometimes he did nothing more than think or watch the traffic pass by, but no matter what he did, he always felt a kind of peace. Wherever they ended up living in the future, he felt fairly certain they would have a little porch.

He dialed and leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Hello?" a male voice with a strong Southern accent whispered from the other end of the phone after two rings.

"Huh? Hello?" Tim questioned, shocked to hear a male voice on the other end of the receiver. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he stared wide-eyed at the number on the screen and then at the number in his hand, certain he had dialed wrong and astonished to see that he hadn't. He brought the phone back to his ear. "Is Calleigh there?"

"She's sound asleep, but I'll be happy to give her a message when she wakes."

Calleigh was asleep. And some strange guy was in her hotel room sounding sleepy himself. Some guy that wasn't Tim, or anyone Tim knew. But it was an awfully familiar voice and one Tim had heard very recently, causing his stomach to knot up in anger and dread. There was no question in his mind that the voice on the other end of the line was the same voice on the answering machine. And he was offering to give her a message when she woke, which meant he planned to be seeing her then.

"That won't be necessary," Tim replied in an even, controlled voice that seemed to come from somewhere outside of himself and operated independently of his brain which was still stuck on stunned.

Methodically he pushed the off button to disconnect them and then flung the phone to the corner, where it landed with a thwack on the cement, hard plastic meeting even harder concrete. Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes and tried to turn his mind off.

Everything he thought he knew, he no longer did.

TBC