Chapter One.
"You're going away for a long time," Horatio Caine said as he leaned over the table.
"Bastard," the young convict replied.
"Gentlemen, take this man away please." Caine watched the young man leave and with a sigh made his way out of the small room.
He walked slowly down the hall to his office. It had been a long three days. They had found a little girl dead in her bedroom. All evidence had pointed to the girl's sitter, a very nice young woman and apparently the only one in the house at the moment. Horatio's gut feeling, however, had told him this girl was innocent.
"Keep looking," he had told his disgruntled CSI's.
Finally, this morning they had found it. Trace evidence that had pointed to the young woman's ex-boyfriend. The trace had been on the little girl's stuffed pony; the young man worked at a clothing store and fibers from a certain brand of sweater the store sold had been in the pony's mane. Horatio smiled. Always think outside the box.
He opened the door to his office and sat down in his comfortable leather chair. He rested his forearms on his desk and ran his hands through his red hair. That poor little girl, she died in the name of revenge. She had been an innocent caught up in something that should have never concerned her, but that's why he had taken this job. As painful as it was sometimes, it was a comfort to know he was bringing justice to the victims.
Unfortunately justice had its setbacks. In the form of paperwork, and there was a mountain of it on his desk.
"Oh well," he thought, "better get started."
Two hours later, he was down to the last of the mail on his desk, but something else caught his eye, a green folder. He looked at it curiously for a minute then picked it up and opened it.
It was an application. He read the résumé for a minute, raised his eyebrows, and walked out the door. He needed to ask Calleigh about this.
He found Calleigh out in the hall a few minutes later.
"Hey, Calleigh, got a minute?"
"Sure H", the pretty blonde replied. "What's up?"
"Well, I have got an application on my desk this morning for a new Trace Analyst. She seems to have some very good credentials. You know, a degree from a good school, field training, and other good things."
"She? What's her name?" Calleigh asked.
"Doctor Emily Taylor," replied Horatio.
"You're kidding!" Calleigh said with a look of shock.
"He's kidding about what?" Eric Delko asked as he walked down the hall towards them.
"Horatio's got an application from Dr. Emily Taylor to work at this lab," Calleigh said.
"So?" said Eric "Why is that so special?"
"Wait Calleigh, did you say Dr. Emily Taylor?" said Ryan Wolfe with curiosity.
"Yes, she did, and I want to know why that name is so special," Eric said.
"Well, she's got a doctorate, and she's only fifteen years old," said Calleigh.
"Fifteen!" said Eric, "That's crazy!"
"Well, she's applying here, and her résumé is good. I'll give her a call." Horatio said.
One week later...
Emily Taylor took a deep breath and walked through the glass doors of the Miami-Dade PD. Her new boss had told her to come in for a week-long trial, to see how she worked in the field and how she well she fit with the team. She was slightly nervous, but excited too.
She walked up to the front desk with what she hoped was confidence and told the secretary her name. The lady smiled and pointed her to the elevator.
She exited the elevator on the second floor and walked up to the front desk. Again she told the secretary her name. Suddenly a deep authoritative voice spoke behind her.
"Dr. Emily Taylor?"
She turned slowly. "Yes sir, that's me. You must be Lieutenant Caine."
She sized up the man before her. He was tall, redheaded and blue-eyed. He had a commanding look about him, as if he had a goal he was determined to reach. He smiled in an almost fatherly way to her, before extending his hand. She shook it with a smile.
"Nice to meet you Doctor Taylor." Horatio looked at the girl before him. She was about 5' 5" he guessed, and thin. Her red hair was pulled back behind a black ribbon. She was wearing casual, comfortable looking clothes. She had a nice face, but her most striking feature was her green eyes. They were bright, intelligent and observant.
"Please, call me Emily."
"Only if you call me Horatio," he smiled. "Would you like to meet the rest of the team?"
"Sure."
The walked down the hall to the break room. She looked around. There was a table and some comfy chairs and a couch, as well as a refrigerator and a coffee machine. She took a seat by the table.
"They should be here any minute." Horatio said.
"Okay," said Emily.
About five seconds later the team walked in. Emily stood up and glanced at the three people before her.
On the left was a tall blonde woman. She was very pretty, and thin, but she looked as though she could take care of herself. "Emily, this is Calleigh Duquesne, our Ballistics expert." She shook the woman's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you Calleigh."
"Pleasure to meet you too, Doctor Taylor." Calleigh replied.
"Please, call me Emily."
Now, a tall man stood before her. He looked to be of Latin American heritage. He was extremely handsome, tan, and had dark, chocolate brown eyes.
"Hi," he said, "I'm Eric Delko, but you can call me Eric."
"Nice to meet you Eric." Emily said as she shook his hand
She turned to the next man. He was young and had shaggy, brown hair and brown eyes. He was handsome as well and looked intellectual.
"Ryan Wolfe," he said as he extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you Doctor Taylor."
"Call me Emily, please. Doctor Taylor makes me feel...well, old." She said as she shook his hand with a sheepish smile.
Everyone laughed, but then Horatio's pager beeped. He took it off his belt and peered at it for a moment.
"We've got a call, triple homicide. Looks like we'll need the whole team on this one."
"Ready for your first case?" He asked Emily as he turned to face her.
