Chapter 2

Ryan was standing in the door when Horatio parked on the street and came into the courtyard. His appearance surprised Ryan a little. He wasn't used to seeing Horatio in jeans, Polo shirt and sneakers. Course, he guessed Horatio probably thought the same thing about him. When he realized he was still in just underwear, he pulled on a pair of worn cut-off jean shorts.

"What's going on, Ryan?" Horatio asked.

Ryan turned, leading him inside. Jake was waiting in the living room and greeted Horatio with the exuberance of a long lost friend – even though he'd only met Horatio a dozen times or so. Horatio smiled a little, calming him with a gentle hand on his head, and followed Ryan back to the bedroom.

Ryan handed over the flashlight and pointed into his closet. "She's in there. She won't talk to me and I don't know what she's doing here."

Horatio knelt on one knee. Jake darted forward to lick him, but Ryan caught him mid lunge and pulled him back.

"Hello there," Horatio said with a smile.

The child didn't respond.

Horatio inched a little closer.

"What's your name, honey?"

She didn't tell him her name.

Horatio inched forward as he spoke. "My name is Horatio. I'm a policeman and I'd like to help you. Can you tell me your name is and why you're covered with blood?"

She looked down at her arms and hands.

Horatio reached out to her and she shrank back, pushing against the wall. He moved his hand to her forearm and laid his hand on it. He felt her tense under his fingers. Horatio hesitated. He didn't know where the blood came from, or if she was armed. With a slow breath he took a risk and slid his fingers around her arm.

The second his fingers wrapped around her slender arm she went from a docile, frightened child to an enraged, terrified child. She kicked, bit, clawed and hit at him, and got in a few good hits. Horatio quickly pulled back with a split lip and several scratches on his face and arms. As soon as he was out of the closet she returned to her semi-catatonic state, staring at the wall again.

"I, uhm…" Ryan wasn't even sure what to say.

Horatio pulled his cell phone from a pocket and dialed a number. "Stay with her Ryan." He headed out to the living room, starting to talk to whoever he called.

Ryan watched him through the door, letting Jake's collar go. He looked down when he heard the girl whisper, "Good boy. Good boy."

Jake was standing in the closet with the child. Ryan crouched down and watched her. She petted Jake, whispering to him. Too bad Jake couldn't tell them what she was saying.

Ryan stood and went into the kitchen. Horatio watched him pass, but his attention remained with whoever was on the other end of his cell phone. Ryan took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and went back to the bedroom. He crouched down near the door and sat the bottle halfway between him and the girl, then sat on the end of the bed. The girl slowly looked up at him, then the water. In achingly slow motion she reached out and took the bottle. She uncapped it and drank the entire bottle in seconds. The girl screwed on the lid and sat it beside her.

"If you put it back there, I'll fill it up for you," Ryan told her.

She glanced at him.

"I promise, I won't move from here until you've sat the bottle down."

She looked at the bottle, then up at Jake. She held it up to him, whispering something. Jake took it and she pointed out of the closet. Jake turned and trotted over to Ryan, making him smile.

"You've been watching us, haven't you? I just taught him fetch."

She didn't answer.

Ryan filled the bottle from the bathroom sink and went back to Jake.

"Take it. Take it, Jake-o."

Jake took it.

"Go. Go, boy," Ryan said, pointing at the girl.

Jake took the bottle to the girl and dropped it in her waiting hands. With a grunt he laid down next to her. She didn't open the bottle this time, just held it. Ryan leaned back on his bed, waiting for someone to tell him what to do.

#

Calleigh and Eric pulled up behind the police car in the driveway of a single story mansion. Every detail of the structure was lavish and most likely cost more than their combined annual salaries. The officer at the door nodded as they walked inside. They could hear a woman inside verbally accosting an officer who was trying very hard to calm her. They came around a wall and found the woman with a man in the den. Tripp and an officer stood with them.

"Ma'am, if you don't calm down, we aren't going to get far here. I need you to calm down," Tripp said.

The two CSI stopped beside him, watching the two.

"She was in her room last night! Don't you get it! The window was broken so the alarm wouldn't go off. Someone knew how to do that! Someone snuck in here and stole our baby!"

"Ma'am," Calleigh said, hoping a woman might help this woman calm down. "The officers need statements so we can help find your child, but you have to calm down. Can you do that? Can we work together to find your child?"

The woman sniffed, looking down. She nodded.

"Okay…" Tripp said with a long breath. "Betty and Samuel Yates, this is CSI Duquesne and CSI Delko. They're going to help us find your daughter. You told the first responding officer that that Alicia was here when you put her to bed last night, but this morning you went to wake her she was missing and the window was broken out?"

"Yes. And whoever did it, didn't set off the alarm."

"Do all the bedroom had bars on the window?"

"Yes," Samuel answered.

"I'll start with the perimeter," Eric said. "Where does the bedroom window face?"

"The pool. She likes looking at the ocean,"

"Betty, can you show me Alicia's bedroom?" Calleigh asked.

The woman nodded and the two headed down a hall. Calleigh noticed that there were several pictures of the child around the house. She had the bright blue eyes and rich brown hair, and was all smiles.

"Alicia is her name?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes. This is her room."

Calleigh looked into the room Betty had stopped at. Calleigh entered and right away she sensed there was something very wrong about the scene. Starting with the deadbolt on the door.

"Can you tell me why there's a deadbolt on this door?" Calleigh pointed at it.

"It was on the door when we bought the place last year. We just never got around to removing it."

Calleigh forced a smile, even though her gut told her the statement was a lie. A house this expensive and they didn't remove a lock on their child's bedroom door? How did that work? Calleigh sat her kit down near the door and opened it, pulling out gloves.

"Do you think they'll call with a ransom soon?" Betty asked.

"Do you think that's why someone took her?"

"I don't know. When we were in Fort Lauderdale, a couple tried to kidnap her. Said they were her parents."

Calleigh turned to face Betty. The woman didn't notice. She was straightening a dress hanging on the door.

"There's been a kidnap attempt before?"

Betty nodded.

"Were the people caught?"

"Oh yes. Well, one, anyway. Samuel shot the woman."

"Why would they say they were her parents?"

"I don't know. We adopted Alicia when we lived in Canada seven years ago. We were told it would take a court order for her biological parents to find Alicia, so I don't know what they were talking about."

Calleigh considered the information. Perhaps the man they thought was in jail wasn't. She would have to investigate that lead when she got back.

Calleigh picked up her camera and started photographing, being sure to get a picture of the lock. Outside she heard Eric snapping off photographs of his own. She was starting to see something that was disturbing her. Calleigh paused for a second to send a text message.

From down the hall an officer called out, "Mrs. Yates, can you come back in the living room? The detective would like to ask you a few more questions."

Calleigh waited until Betty left to go back to the door. She swung it closed and crouched down, photographing the inside.

"Calleigh," Eric called from outside.

"Yes?"

"These bars are bolted from the inside and there's blood on them from the inside."

Calleigh stood, turning. Eric was standing at the window. She walked over to it, looking the window over. Heavy duct tape covered the inside edges of the window, over the metal strip that would have set off the alarm. Doing that had prevented the glass from cracking and breaking the electrical current that would have set off the alarm."

"And the tape is on the inside. There's not much glass in here. What about out there?"

Eric nodded. "It's all over the ground. Calleigh, no one broke into this room. Someone was breaking out of it."

"There's tool marks on the inside of the door across the lock, but it's pristine outside."

Eric shook his head. "For a little girl to go to all this to get away… These people aren't telling us something. They've done something to that poor kid."

"I know… But we can't help her until we can find her."

Eric nodded. The two went back to work, hoping their evidence would lead them to where Alicia Yates was hiding.

#

Ryan watched the girl pick at something in her hand. It had been a long night. Two female, one male policeman, Horatio, and a paramedic had tried to coax the girl out. The paramedic had even tried to force her out and came back with bleeding cuts, a few of which had glass fragments stuck in them. The event had set Jake off, surprising Ryan. He didn't calm down until the medic left the room and returned to his spot beside the child.

Ryan looked up when Horatio came in with the woman.

"This is April, she's from child services," Horatio told him.

Ryan greeted her with a smile.

"Can you call your dog out?" April asked.

Ryan called Jake. April crouched down, smiling at the child.

"Hi there. My name is April. Can you tell me your name?"

The child didn't answer.

Horatio looked at his phone when it rang. He moved across the room.

"Calleigh," Horatio said.

"Horatio, we're on an abduction case, but things aren't adding up. Are you at the lab?"

"No. I am not."

"Okay. I'll call Ryan. I need someone to get a hold of the Fort Lauderdale police and get a case file."

"Ryan isn't there either. He's with me."

Ryan looked up at the mention of his name.

"Was there another case?"

"Not really. Natalia should be in. Ask her to work on getting the case file."

"Okay. Is everything all right? Is he all right?"

"Everything is all right. Ask Natalia to assist you."

Horatio and Ryan both turned when the child started screaming. April was trying to pull her out.

"Stop," Ryan said, getting to his feet.

April didn't stop.

"I have to go," Horatio said, hanging up on Calleigh.

"Stop!" Ryan said, grabbing April's shoulder.

He looked back when Jake started growling. And so did April. Jake was snarling at her with his ears flat back against his head and his hackles standing on end. Ryan quickly grabbed his collar to keep him from doing something they would both regret. Horatio walked forward, taking April's shoulders and gently pulling her back.

"That will be enough."

"She can't stay in there, Horatio," April said, not letting the child go.

The child's screams turned to crying and changed pitch. Jake tried to lunge at April, and was luckily weighed down by Ryan's hundred or so pounds. He started barking and snarling at April, trying to break free so he could protect the child from what he perceived as a threat.

April turned her head just as the girl's fist swung out of the closet and landed right in her eye. April let go and the child scrambled back to the safety of her corner. Horatio pulled April away from the closet and Jake, hurrying her out of the room. Jake continued barking until she was out of sight, and then he strained to get into the closet. Ryan let him go and he dashed up to the child, licking her face. He looked back at Ryan as if he was blaming him for the whole ordeal.

Ryan sighed, nodding, "I know. I know. I'm supposed to protect her. I get it, Jake, alright?" Ryan stood. "Protect, Jake. Protect."

Ryan stepped out of the bedroom, watching Horatio and April in the kitchen. Horatio was making an icepack and helped her put it up to her eye.

"That child is bleeding, Horatio. She needs medical attention," April told him.

"I agree, but I don't think force is the way to get her to come out. She's scared."

"That dog needs to be removed."

"I don't think so," Ryan protested.

April looked up. "He was going to bite me!"

"You were making her scream and cry. He was just protecting her."

"So he knows the child?"

Horatio and Ryan looked at each other. Both had overlooked the most obvious question; the one that they should have been trying to figure out first. Jake wouldn't protect a stranger, even a child. So he had to know this one. But how?

"Has she ever taken care of Jake before?" Horatio asked Ryan.

"No. I've never met this child!"

"Then how does she know Jake?"

Ryan thought about that, trying to figure it out. He thought of all the places he took Jake, but he'd never seen this girl before. He shook his head and shrugged.

"Does Jake stay here by himself when you're at work? Have you ever boarded him somewhere?"

"No. When I'm at work..." Realization hit Ryan. He knew where Jake had probably met the child, and with whom. "The apartment owners take care of Jake when I'm at work or out of town, and Cynthia always takes him to the park with her. I have to go talk to her." Ryan headed for the front door.

"You're planning on putting a shirt before we do that, I hope."

Ryan looked down, realizing he was still in just jean cut-offs. He went back into his room for a shirt.

#

Horatio turned when Derek's door opened. Ryan smiled at him.

"Hey, Ryan," Derek said." What's going on down there? Is this about your window?"

"No, something else. Derek, when you guys have Jake, has there ever been a little brunette girl around him?"

Derek shrugged. "When we have Jake, I'm at work. Just a second. Cynthia, Ryan's gotta question for you, babe."

Cynthia joined him at the door, smiling at Ryan.

"Having a police ball in your apartment?" she asked.

Ryan and Horatio chuckled a little at the joke.

"No. Cynthia, when you've had Jake, has there been a little brunette girl around him?"

Cynthia thought a minute, and then nodded. "Yeah. At the park. She's there a lot a Hispanic woman she said was her nanny and sometimes a Hispanic girl her age. The woman always lets her come talk to Jake and he adores her, so I never thought it was a problem. Is that what all the commotion is about? Did I get Jake in trouble somehow?"

"No. You and Jake haven't done anything wrong. Do you know the girl's name?"

She shook her head. "I've asked but she hasn't ever told me. She's a real skittish little thing and always keeps Jake between her and I."

"Did you ever speak to her nanny?"

"No. The woman looked like she had a stick up her twat. She'd just sit on the bench and watch the girls like a hawk. And when that woman called, the little girl left no matter what she was doing."

"Would today be a day her nanny would be at the park?"

"Yes. She's there every afternoon Monday through Friday."

"This is my supervisor, Lieutenant Horatio Caine. Could you go to the park with him and point the nanny out?" Ryan asked.

"Is the kid in trouble?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. Well, let me get some shoes on."

"Just one more question," Ryan said.

Cynthia had moved inside to grab shoes by the door. She turned around."What?"

"Did she ever ask about Jake's owner?"

Cynthia smiled. "All the time. She said that sometimes she'd see you jog by her house with him."

"That narrows the area," Horatio commented.

"To a fifteen mile radius and a lot of houses," Ryan replied."Cynthia, did you tell her I'm a policeman?"

"Yes. She liked to hear the stories you told me about your job."

Ryan nodded. "Thank you."

"Cynthia," Horatio began, "at any point did you tell her living with an officer made you feel safe?"

The three were a little surprised by the question. Slowly Cynthia nodded.

"I'm sure I did, maybe more than once. It makes everyone here feel safer knowing Ryan's a police officer. Even cranky old Carpeli does, although she'd never admit it."

"Thank you," Horatio said. "I'll be waiting out front for you."

Ryan understood the hint and followed Horatio. They stopped on the sidewalk.

"Ryan, do not leave that little girl. She came to you because she trusts Cynthia's opinion of you."

"She doesn't even know me."

"It doesn't matter. She knows Cynthia and Jake can be trusted. That's why she came to you. Whatever she's running from, your place is the only place she feels safe right now. Do you understand?"

Ryan nodded.

The two looked up when Cynthia trotted up.

"Ready," Cynthia said with a slight smile.

Horatio walked to his Hummer and opened his door for her. Ryan headed back to his apartment.

"Ryan."

He turned and almost groaned when he saw Mrs. Carpeli shuffling toward him.

"What's going? What's all that ruckus at your apartment about?"

"I can't tell you anything right now, Mrs. Carpeli. Just go back inside."

"Is there a murderer in your apartment?"

"No. Go back inside."

"A rapist? I have a right to know if I'm in danger."

"You're not in danger, Mrs. Carpeli. Now please—"

"Is your niece okay?"

Ryan stopped talking. "My niece?"

"Yes. Your niece. She was here yesterday."

"What did this girl look like?"

"You don't know what your niece looks like?"

"My niece is on a band trip in Washington. What did this girl look like?"

"She said you were her uncle. She was all cut up and bruised. She said some bullies beat her up at the park and didn't want to go home; said she'd get in trouble if she showed up like that. She thought you lived in my apartment. Are you sure it wasn't your niece? She knew you were a policeman."

"Did you tell here where I lived?"

"Yes. I told her over there." Mrs. Carpeli pointed at Ryan's apartment.

"What happened after that?"

"She asked when you'd be home. Like I know that! You're home at all hours! Probably out drinking and whoring, aren't you?"

Ryan realized Horatio was right. This child chose him because she thought she'd be safe with him.

"Thank you for helping her. Now go on back to your apartment, okay? You're perfectly safe." Ryan turned to leave.

"What kind of a cop let's someone break into his apartment, anyway?"

Ryan turned back to her. "The kind that's human just like you and didn't let someone break in."

Mrs. Carpeli stared at him with an expressionless face. Slowly she turned and started back to her apartment, muttering something under her breath and using his name a lot. Ryan risked a smile with her back turned. He headed back to his apartment. The only benefit of the conversation was that he was starting to imagine what might have happened. Ryan stopped at the door and pulled his wallet from a jacket pocket. He fished out two twenties, handing them to the officer near the door.

"Order two large pizzas. One half pepperoni and half cheese."

The man nodded. Ryan put his wallet back and went back to the bedroom. He sat down on the floor, and smiled. Jake was curled up next to the girl. She had laid down with her head on him and was finally sleeping. The thought crossed Ryan's mind that now would be a good time to get her out of the closet, but that wouldn't do much for her trust in him. He dug his cell phone out and called Horatio.

"Horatio."

"H, I need a CSI here."

The girl looked up at him and Ryan held her stare while he continued. "One of my neighbors just told me the girl claimed to be my niece. I think she did that to find out what apartment I lived in, and then broke the window to get in. Since she won't talk to us, maybe any evidence she left will tell us who she is."

"You didn't mention your bedroom window had been broken."

"I didn't think it was relevant until now. Can you send Callie, or Eric?"

"They're on a case. I'll ask Natalia."

"Thanks." Ryan hung up his phone.

The girl let her head drift down, staring somewhere else. Ryan could only imagine what atrocity would make a ten-year-old break into someone's house and risk getting cut so bad just to escape it.