A/N: Thank you for the reads and sorry for the long absence!

Horatio and his team (c) CBS, Daikonran Kino and Secondet Leonhart (c) my sister

7.

It had been eleven hours since the case was opened but the conference room was alight with activity. Eric and Calleigh sorted out their findings from Porta Del Sol; the V.I.P. lists for the upcoming summer event was covered in highlight circles and crossed-out names. Among those picked from the list were the girls found in the Nevaeh Spa, each for their endless spending limits.

Just beyond the glass doors, Horatio gulped down a small pill with a heavy drink of water, causing him some discomfort as it landed in his stomach. Secondet had prescribed the holy-water based meds to calm down the frequent blood coughing and the ever-present possibility of another lung collapsing. Caine had neared to losing one of said organs during the Thompson case, while driving to a suspect's home; he decided one close call was enough. His illness came from vampiric hemophilia and blood poisoning; in other words, he was bit by the undead. Horatio shook off the ensuing nausea and entered the room.

"What do we have up to now?"

Calleigh snapped out of her conversation with Delko and handed her boss the Porta de Sol evidence. "All of our suspects belong to both clubs' exclusive lists."

"What's more is that everyone involved in this case has their name in the system. Jake Lai was charged with possessing 30 grams of marijuana last year, got off by 'good behavior', and attempted assault against a showgirl in Shiva Club over at Coral Gables." Eric continued while presenting his boss the omniscient manila folder."

"Speedle also found some cigarette butts near the crime scene. DNA is already processing and up to what I've got; it's an unknown male. A bouncer, maybe?" The ballistics expert added while putting away her report.

"And thanks to Mr. Wolfe, we also have girls' misdemeanor records." Caine stated, his hands rubbing his temples in a circular manner. He took silent notice that Tim had yet to arrive and update his situation. Looking at his watch, the lieutenant realized he was postponing the inevitable interview with Ms. Barton. Nonetheless he waited and listened to what Ryan had to say.

"I sent for a background check on the Lais; turns out the father's an assistant executive in the Miami division of Universal Records, Caught Up music."

"That would explain the demo CD." A sigh and Horatio skimmed through photos, analyzing the next order of business. "I'll try to extract any relevant information from the interrogation. Calleigh, keep going with those cigarette butts with a nationwide scan. Eric, go down to Alexx's post and pick up the body picture; the Lais have been notified and need to ID the corpse. Ryan, I need you to go with Eric and pick up Kino's fatal wound analysis the coroner's office with Secondet."

The anomaly kept irking Horatio's train of thought until he finally asked, "Has anyone seen Speed? He was supposed to present the results from Kousei's and Straight's interrogations."

The hair on Wolfe's neck stood on end as he remembered his blowout just a few minutes prior with said crime scene investigator. He quietly acknowledged his mistake and decided to apologize properly the next time he saw Tim. Once Caine suspended the impromptu conference, everyone spread out in different directions across the lab. Time to meet the beast…

"Ms. Aleshya Barton, I understand that this is not the first time you've graced this police station with your presence." Horatio began, quickly annoyed by the sound of popping gum. Aleshya was something plain attempting to be beautiful. Her multi-layered blonde hair revealed its brunette roots; her heavy make-up caused her face to be that of a glamorous clown. Aleshya's manicured nails tapped irritatingly on the glass top.

"Yeah, so?" She spat as a response, lounging against her seat.

Caine tried in vain to suppress a knowing smile. "I also take it that you have recently tried to jumpstart your musical career."

Aleshya's head swerved arrogantly. "Did my song hit the radio already?"

"Not quite." The lieutenant then presented the crime scene photos that placed the disk on the site to the spoiled brat. Aleysha's eyebrows cocked disdainfully. "Oh."

Just as Horatio opened his mouth, Ms. Barton quickly cut him short. "I was at the party over in Club Nouveau, giving VJs my demos."

"That's convenient." His normally blue eyes grew steely, eyeing Aleshya's movements. Like a doctor's, criminalists were trained to spot discrepancies in speech and behavior. And to the lieutenant's opinion, this woman was a bit too relaxed about the questioning, too omnipotent. "Was this one of the VJs you were interviewing?"

It took two seconds for Ms. Barton to turn on the waterworks after Horatio handed his copy of the autopsy picture before Kino's surgery reversal. Through dramatic mopping, she was able to sob, "Is that Jake?"

"Was he a friend?" A quick sniff and Aleshya nodded. Hearing the familiar squawking of a rich mother coming to bail out her daughters, Horatio concluded the interview by asking one last question.

"Ms. Barton, do you know of anyone who would want Jake Lai killed?"

Almost as quickly as the tears came; they disappeared as Aleshya recognized her mother. "Try anyone who's been rejected by his parents' label. He wouldn't know talent even if it was in front of them."

Romaine Barton was a sight for sore eyes as she stormed into the interrogation room; too many facelifts and Botox made for a disturbingly blank face. Her thin mouth was stuck in a proverbial smile along with her excessive make-up.

And she called me the Crypt Keeper! Jesus freaking Christ! Horatio thought as the barrage of insults blasted through the door.

"Why is my daughter here?! She's done nothing wrong!" Romaine yelled loudly. "My daughter has been a model citizen since her DUI; this is bordering on harassment!"

"Ma'am, we're trying to clear your daughter's name in an ongoing homicide investigation." Caine replied calmly. "We would be grateful if there is anything she could do to help the case." A headshake and the accompanying guard escorted both mother and daughter out of the interrogation room.

Horatio could practically smell the witness-discrediting affidavit that would come twenty-four hours later, giving the case an ultimatum; either find the murder weapon and unearth incriminating evidence against the girls or the case goes out the window. He could also see the forming mob scene of reporters just waiting to get the scoop; a socialite's murder would pay more than $400, 000 if a reporter got his hands on any information. But for now, Horatio shifted his attention towards finding where Speedle had run off.

Speed found himself sitting against the locker wall, hidden from sight as others went on with their daily lives. For two months, he tried to adapt to a new lab as quickly as he could. It wasn't just the changes brought upon Boa Vista's donation; his coworkers had changed as well. Tim could sense the stares he got while doing his job and he knew they had nothing to do with evaluating his performances. His inverted eyes gave away the fact that he had died. Frankly, he felt useless against Horatio's new team; Ryan's blowout just validated it.

Speedle's head looked down; just three months he was just a mindless assassin for Marla Ruez, now what? A light tap on the ceramic tiles and the crime scene investigator was met with familiar kind eyes. "Room for one more?"

Horatio sat on the bench next to Speedle while the other man quickly regained his composure. "Sorry I didn't report to the conference room; the evidence wasn't adding up." Tim reacted as he handed his file to Caine.

"No worries." Horatio replied, browsing the papers for a moment. "But I take it that's not the reason you're here and not working on the case."

Speed smiled sourly. "What's the point? Boa Vista can do it faster than I could." "And you base your criteria on what, if I may ask?" Tim sighed, "For one thing, she's alive and up-to-date"

Horatio understood what was bothering Speed and smiled. "I could've done that on any other case but not this one."

Now it was Speedle's turn to ask. "And why is that?" Horatio replied, "Because it's your first back, isn't it?" The lieutenant stood up and helped his partner stand up. "Besides, I trust you to do a good job. You're a valuable asset to the team in more ways than you think."

Speed nodded and went back to his workstation while Caine stayed for a while to contemplate their conversation. He voted against looking for whoever shook Tim Speedle into doubting himself for the time being; outside, the media circus was about to begin.

A/n: Reviews are welcome