Several days had passed since the discussion between DEA agent Hickoc, Horatio, and Savannah. Savannah had quietly discussed the matter over with Horatio later that night, and Horatio had advised her as best as he could. After thinking the whole situation over very carefully, Savannah had come to the decision that she would do what she could to help, provided that her back was watched very, very carefully. She didn't feel like winding up as another victim of a drug dealer. At their next meeting, Hickoc had readily agreed, more so under the dark glaring warning of Horatio's eyes, which silently promised dire consequences if he didn't hold up his end of the bargain and Savannah got hurt.
Savannah's first watch had been very nerve-wracking and had resulted in nothing; Sandoval hadn't shown up. Savannah had later explained to Hickoc that this was normal for the guy; she never knew when he was going to show up. They had agreed to a simple watch plan of Savannah alerting Hickoc whenever she was going to hit the park and an agent would be nearby, keeping an eye on both her and Sandoval.
It was a beautiful, sunny Miami day and Savannah was outside, dealing with her customers at the Seaside Café. She was laughing at something Maria had just commented on when she spotted something. It was a dark-colored car that seemed to be cruising through the Seaside parking lot. Something didn't seem right about it. Then Maria spotted the car too, and she came close to Savannah.
"I think we may have trouble," she said nervously. Savannah nodded, already reaching for her cell phone to put in a report to 9-1-1, just in case.
"Go get Davis and let him know," Savannah said, as she flipped open her cell. The girl nodded and was walking away when all hell broke loose.
The windows of the car suddenly rolled down and something flashed. Before she could comprehend that it was the muzzle of a gun, bullets started flying. And the screaming started and the glass started flying. Somehow, she found herself on the ground, Antonio on top of her, trying to shield her. Antonio was a waiter who was extremely good-looking and could have any woman he wanted, if it weren't for the fact that he preferred men. As it was, both Maria and Savannah loved and treated him as affectionately as any brother, and he returned that affection.
Somewhere behind her, someone cried out in pain.
And, as quickly as it had started, the shooting stopped. Savannah cautiously raised her head and spotted Maria lying on the ground. Blood was starting to stain her white blouse and, ignoring Antonio's pleas to be careful and keep her head down, she quickly scrambled over to her best friend.
"Maria! Maria, hang in there," she pleaded, yanking open the blouse and spotting blood emerging from a gunshot wound to the stomach region. "Someone call 9-1-1!" she yelled, even as she yanked off her outer shirt for a make-shift compress to try and stem the blood flow and grabbed a tablecloth off an empty table and used it as a pillow for Maria's head. All of her first-aid training kicked in and blanked everything else out from her mind. She cautiously lifted Maria, soothing her as the girl whimpered, to try and see if the injury was a through-and-through; it wasn't. She cussed silently; the bullet was still lodged inside Maria and that had just as much potential for trouble as a through-and-through.
"We've got a bleeder over here!" someone yelled. After reassuring herself that Maria was okay, she grabbed some towels from somewhere and bolted over to the bleeder. Working with those who knew what to do, she attempted to stabilize the victim, a man who had taken a shot to the chest.
Finally, finally, the paramedics showed up and took over. And that was when she saw a familiar face in the growing crowd of medical and police personnel; Detective Frank Tripp. He was a nice officer and Savannah had liked him, despite his gruff appearance. It was then that he spotted her too, and his eyes went wide at her appearance; she had blood on her from both Maria and the chest-wound victim and her hair and clothes were a mess. He quickly went over to her, recognizing her as Horatio's roommate from Alabama.
"Savannah, are you okay?" he demanded, coming over to her, worry on his face.
She nodded numbly and shivered. Funny, she was suddenly cold, even though it was a warm day. Dimly she heard Frank yelling for someone and then someone put a blanket around her and lead her to an ambulance.
"I'm going to call Horatio, okay?" Frank said, rubbing her shoulders. She nodded but Frank could see it in her eyes that she had slipped into shock. He got out his cell and placed a call he really didn't want to make.
A silver-colored Hummer, blue and red lights flashing, pulled up to the parking lot and slid to a stop with a screech of the tires. Horatio Caine bolted out of the Hummer and headed for the Seaside Café, flashing his badge at the officer on the other side of the yellow tape, who lifted the tape for him. Less than fifteen minutes ago he'd been at another scene when he'd received an urgent phone call from Detective Frank Tripp, telling him to get down to the Seaside Café, as there had just been a drive-by shooting and Savannah had been involved. Horatio's anxiety levels had shot up as he knew Savannah was working that day and it was a nice day, meaning she would be working outside.
"Frank!" Horatio yelled, spotting Frank. He was standing inside a pair of ambulance doors but Horatio couldn't see whom he was talking to. The detective looked up and waved Horatio over. He dashed over to Frank to find him fussing over Savannah, who was seated inside the ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders and a blank look about her. She looked okay but he knew she was in shock.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Witnesses are saying there was a drive-by shooting. Someone in a dark-colored vehicle pulled out a gun and started shooting at the café. We got a bunch of minor injuries, mostly from flying glass, and two criticals. Ambulance just took 'em to Grace Memorial," Frank said. He gently pulled Horatio to one side and quietly said, "Horatio, one of the criticals was apparently a friend of Savannah's, a Cuban girl by the name of Maria. That's her blood Savannah's got on her shirt; seems the girl took a shot to the stomach and may or may not survive. When the medics got to them, Savannah had already begun emergency first aid procedures on both her and another victim, a male who took a bullet to the chest."
"And now?"
"The medics are saying she's gone in to emotional shock. She's not talking much, and if she does say anything, it's more of a confused question, like she can't quite comprehend what's going on. When she does eventually pull out of it, you and I both know what's going to happen, provided she doesn't slip into clinical shock," Frank said. Horatio nodded. "Now, we've got guys already on the look-out for the drive-by vehicle and I've already called Dispatch for some CSI's but my immediate concern is Savannah. We need to know what happened, especially since a number of witnesses are suggesting that it looked like she was the possible target. Any ideas why?"
"Keep this to yourself for now, but the DEA was working with Savannah in regards to a high-profile drug dealer by the name of Clavo Sandoval. She'd spotted him at a local park recently and had sketches to prove it. She mentioned to me last night that it felt like she was being followed lately but had tried brushing it off as the DEA trying to protect her. I'm starting to wonder now if it wasn't just the DEA that was following her," Horatio said, a scowl crossing his face.
"I know of Sandoval. Guy's a vicious, paranoid bastard who once said that paranoia kept him alive and his competitors dead," Frank said. "Could he have gotten suspicious of Savannah and decided to eliminate her?"
"It's possible," Horatio said, "which means we need to get her out of here and under protective custody."
"We need her statement, as well, but the trouble is, until she pulls out of her shock, we can't do much," Frank said.
"Work with what you can for now. I'm going to take Savannah back to the lab for temporary protective custody and hand her over to Alexx while I talk to the DEA." Frank nodded. Horatio turned to the attending paramedic and said, "If I promise you she'll see a doctor right away, will you release her to me?"
The paramedic nodded and said, "Keep a close eye on her, though. Right now she's in emotional shock but she could slip into clinical shock without warning." He handed Horatio a release form, which he signed.
Then Horatio removed the blanket from around Savannah's shoulders and was about to replace it with his jacket when a tall, dark-haired, green-eyed man with a Seaside Café name tag on his shirt, identifying him as "Antonio", came up, a large polar-fleece blanket in one hand.
"Better the blanket than your jacket; blood can be a pain for the cleaners to get out of that material," he said.
Horatio nodded and carefully wrapped the blanket around Savannah. Then, both he and Antonio lead the girl to Horatio's Hummer. Once she was safely inside and belted up, Antonio turned to Horatio, concern in his eyes.
"Is she going to be okay? I know she's in shock, but my concern is her mental health. Shootings like this always do a number on the fragile ones," he said.
"Unfortunately, time will tell with her. We can only hope she pulls out of the shock soon," Horatio replied. He remembered Savannah telling him about Antonio, saying he was a lot of fun and both she and Maria had fun teasing him about his preference for men. "You seem to know a lot about shootings."
"Grew up in the Bronx area of New York, smack-dab in the middle of Gang Land. Decided to come here rather than take my chances of landing on a metal slab in cold storage," Antonio explained grimly. Horatio nodded in understanding. "If she does pull out of the shock within the next forty-eight hours, tell her Boss Man said we're going to shut down for a week for repairs and what-not and we're all getting regular pay during this time."
"I'll tell her," Horatio assured the man.
"In that case, get her outta here," Antonio said, walking away to see what else he could do to help.
On his way to the lab, Horatio put in a call to Alexx, who quickly directed him to the back receiving area, where she would meet him. When advised about Savannah's state of mind and the condition of her clothes, Alexx promised to scrounge up some clean clothes for the girl. When the Hummer pulled up to the receiving area of the lab, Alexx was waiting. She quickly took over and led Savannah to the locker room for a shower and to get her out of her bloodied clothes. Assured that she was in good hands, Horatio left to deal with the DEA and his previous crime scene.
While Savannah was in the shower, appearing to be acting on auto, Alexx waited in the locker room, keeping a close ear out for the girl. Calleigh came in to get something from her locker.
"Hey Alexx, what's up?" the blonde CSI asked.
"Waiting for Savannah to finish her shower. The poor girl was just involved in a drive-by shooting and was trying to help someone, so she's got blood all over her, poor thing," Alexx explained. "She's also in shock, which means I'm keeping a very close eye on her."
"Wow, does Horatio know?" Calleigh asked, concerned.
"He brought her in, thinking she might have been the target of the drive-by because she recently identified a very dangerous drug dealer," Alexx said. She was about to say more when a piercing scream suddenly rent the air, coming from the direction of the showers.