Eye on Crime - Chapter 4
By Celtic Lady
Early the next morning, Horatio was running late. He didn't realize how long it took little girls to get ready, or rather, how long it would take 'him' to get her dressed, fed, find her missing teddy bear that she couldn't possibly leave without, and of course put on her white bunny slippers with the pink ears.
By the time he reached work, Madison had fallen asleep again so he laid her on the couch in his office and covered her with his blue lab coat. He then quickly walked down the hallway to the Audio Visual lab. He hoped Jade didn't forget her offer to watch Madison and wanted to make sure she was still there. When he got to the lab, Jade Reno was in a heated argument with Troy Maxwell and Peter Wilkins while Dan looked on.
"These cameras have always worked fine for me so don't stand there and tell me they're a piece of sh--!" Jade was interrupted by Horatio.
"Is there a problem in here?" he sternly inquired.
Troy immediately turned his anger towards Horatio, "these loaner cameras just aren't going to work. They keep stopping in the middle of filming. They're a piece of junk." While Troy was ranting and raving to Horatio, Jade had secretly turned on the first camera which she had already cleaned up. Somehow she just knew it would come in handy.
"They worked fine for me so I don't know what your problem is," Jade retorted angrily.
Before Troy could respond, Horatio forcefully said, "enough!" He motioned for Jade and Dan to join him in the hallway. "Do either of you have any other cameras they could borrow?"
Frustrated, Jade took a deep breath to settle down, then continued, "No. These are all I have." Dan likewise nodded no. "Horatio, both of these cameras were full of sand when they brought them in this morning. They aren't taking care of them -- that's why they aren't working," Jade pleaded.
"Okay." Horatio thought for a moment. "Let me talk to Mr. Maxwell and Dan try and get these cameras cleaned up." Jade motioned for Dan to join her as she grabbed the second camera. Together they went down to the garage to use the air hose to blow out the sand in hopes it would be faster.
"Dan, when you get back, play back the other camera on the big screen," Jade instructed as a satisfied smile came over her face.
"Why?" Dan was puzzled at her request.
Jade explained her little ploy, "I turned the other camera on before we went out to the hallway. While we were there, I saw them talking about the sand in the cameras. They knew what they had done but want to blame it on the cameras. So let's just make them eat their own words."
Dan liked her plan and agreed to go along with it. This TV show was beginning to be a big pain for him.
"Listen, I have to go. I have to baby-sit a little girl so I need to get out of here." Jade rushed out the door and headed to Horatio's office.
Meanwhile, a sleepy-eyed little girl awoke all alone. Realizing where she was, Madison decided to go looking for Horatio. She slipped her arms into the lab coat which then dragged the floor like a long robe. Clutching her teddy bear, she slowly ventured down the hallway peeking into several rooms as she went along hoping her Uncle Horatio would be there. Several people walked by and gazed but none stopped to help her. As she turned down several corridors, Madison became more and more aware that she was lost. With tears forming in her eyes, she turned one last corner and saw an angel.
Calleigh saw the lost little girl and knelt down to the child's level to talk to her. "Well hello there sweetie. What are you doing way down here?"
Somewhat scared, Madison whispered, "I'm looking for Uncle Ratio."
Calleigh picked up Madison and cheerfully replied, "well, I think I can find him for you." She picked up her cell phone and dialed Horatio's phone number.
"Are you by chance missing a cute little girl in white bunny slippers with pink ears?" Calleigh gave Madison a little wink which made her laugh. "Well where are you and I'll bring her over." Horatio told her and they ended the call. "Let's go see your Uncle Horatio okay."
Madison happily grinned and nodded yes.
Horatio ended the phone call and walked back into the Audio Visual Lab. "Troy, how did the cameras get full of sand?" He put his hands on his hips, in the classic H pose, to illustrate his displeasure.
Troy again argued that they had nothing to do with the cameras as Dan returned minutes later.
Troy was very defensive when he replied back, "what sand! These cameras are spotless and they still don't work. Don't you have anything better than these pieces of junk?" Troy and Horatio were still throwing accusations back and forth as Dan qued the tape to the appropriate beginning and hit the play button. Sudden silence hit the room as the image appeared big and brightly on the big screen to Troy's chagrin.
"Listen, let me do all the talking," Troy whispered to Peter. "We've got some really hot beach scenes and better their cameras get screwed up and full of sand than ours."
Dan turned the tape off as Horatio leaned in towards Troy and sarcastically smiled, "looks like your problem is operator error. I suggest you take better care of 'our' cameras or we . . . we may just revoke our generosity."
Horatio walked out into the hallway as Jade approached him. "Did you take Madison to child care this morning? I didn't see her in your office."
Horatio smiled, "she decided to take a self tour of the crime lab while I was busy." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Calleigh found her and is bringing her up." No sooner than he said that, Calleigh rounded the corner with Madison.
"Here we go!" Calleigh cheered.
Jade took the girl into her arms and left as she saw Delko walking up.
Horatio turned to Calleigh and inquired about the missing person, "any luck so far with Mr. Miller?"
"No. Nothing." She shook her head. "I think I need to go recheck the house. Maybe I missed something."
"Take Eric with you." Horatio then walked back to his office.
Eric entered the Audio Visual lab as Troy and Peter were leaving. After the door had closed, he asked Dan, "I hear they aren't happy?"
Dan fully enjoyed telling Delko about what had transpired along with showing him the tape. After a good chuckle, Dan brought up that the female camera person was quite interested in Delko and thought he was hot. Delko's interest peaked.
"Really?" He looked pleased with himself. "I guess I need to go check her out although I kind of had my eyes on Jade." He turned around to see if Jade was still there.
"Forget Jade," beamed Dan. He walked over to Jade's desk and opened the top drawer for Delko to see. Inside was a voodoo doll with his name stapled on the front. "So what did you do to her?"
"Ouch!" Delko picked up the doll and looked at it. "Do you believe in this stuff?"
Dan shook his head no. "Not really."
Laughing, Delko added, "Neither do I." He put the doll back into the drawer and closed it. "What ever I did, I better not do it again."
Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for your kind reviews. I'm glad you enjoy the story. I've discovered that reviews are addictive - I want more. :-D