Chapter 2

Four minutes passed before the air show became a crime scene. The police were still trying to calm the hysterical crowd and fire crews were working extra hard to put the flames out on the wreckage of what was the Wings of War.

Horatio watched miserably as Alexx loaded Kyle's body onto a gurney so she could take him to the morgue for autopsy. Only twenty-five years old and already pushing up daisies…the thought made him sick to his stomach. He was most certainly not looking foreword to calling his wife to tell him the news that she was now a widow.

Eric Delko sidled up next to him, kit in hand. "You going to be OK, H?" he asked. "I know he was your friend."

"There's seems to be a problem here, Eric," said Horatio. "Have you interviewed the ground crew?"

"Wolfe's on it," replied Eric. He looked at the bomber wreckage. "How long have you known him?"

"Five years. He was the one who sent that sympathy card after Marisol's death, remember?"

Eric turned away slightly. "That was him? Damn, if only I'd known. Does he have a family?"

"His wife, Bethany, lives in Britain," replied Horatio. "She'll probably come down here once word gets out over there that their star pilot has just been killed in an accident." Horatio's blue eyes never left the wreckage, he just couldn't believe it.

"What do you want us to do, H?" asked Eric.

Horatio found the courage to tear his gaze away. "Process the scene, Eric," he said. "See if you can get anything off that bomber. I'll be at the post."

"Sure, H." Eric gave Horatio one last sympathetic look before ducking under the crime scene tape and walking over to the remains of the Wings of War.

As he walked back to the Hummer, Horatio kept hearing Kyle's voice inside his head, over and over, like a broken record: Ground crew checked her…we could have a coffee after I land? Catch up on old times…well, Horatio, it's been a barrel of giggles talking to you… No matter what he did he couldn't shake it off. Instead, he told himself to remember Kyle as he was, and not how he died.

He met Kyle five years ago, when the then twenty-one-year-old Englishman was spending a vacation in Miami with his beautiful girlfriend, who was only sixteen years old at the time. In touring the city, he and Bethany made a pit-stop at the crime lab to observe how crimes were solved in America…just to see if there was a difference. Horatio had been the one who greeted them and gave them the tour of the labs and in the process, struck up a conversation with the young pilot, who was very friendly and open. In fact, everyone in the lab immediately took a shine to Kyle, and they always asked when he was coming back to Miami.

Now Kyle was never coming back. Ever.

As he eased the Hummer out of the parking lot, Horatio saw Calleigh and Ryan Wolfe snapping pictures of the bomber wreckage and he noticed that Calleigh stopped every now and then to wipe her eyes. Horatio knew the feeling.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You sure you want to see this, Horatio?" asked Alexx, visibly wincing as she observed the sorrow on Horatio's face.

"I have to, Alexx," he said softly.

She glanced at Kyle's serene face then back up and Horatio saw that her eyes were red. Five years ago, Kyle had also visited the morgue and viewed Alexx performing an autopsy, which he complimented her on afterwards. She was the member of his team who asked about Kyle the most, as she had been quite charmed by him.

"Kyle has a lot of broken bones," she said, "mostly his arms, legs, all of his ribs literally caved in from the impact – one punctured his left lung. He lost a lot of blood. I'm so sorry, Horatio."

"But he was alive long enough to know that he was dying," remarked Horatio. He looked down and saw that his hands were shaking. When he looked back up at Alexx and spoke, he could barely keep the pain out of his voice. "Alexx, take care of him…OK?"

She nodded wordlessly and Horatio left the autopsy room, the pain inside his chest feeling so great he thought that he would burst from it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When he got back to the crime lab Horatio was surprised to see a tall, beautiful woman standing before the elevator. Her long black hair was tied back in a simple ponytail, her round face tear-streaked and swollen, her blue eyes red. She had her arms crossed over her chest and Horatio was amazed to see that she had a belly as round and as tight as a pumpkin.

"Bethany?" he asked softly.

She turned around slowly, her face stoic and full of pain. "Lieutenant," she said in a quivering voice. "Sorry to bother you."

"You're not bothering me, but sweetheart, I thought you were home in England."

"Kyle brought me along," said Bethany Shannon. "But I wasn't feeling well enough to go to the air show. Then, your officer…Delko…called me to tell me that Kyle's bomber…that he…he had been…"

She turned around violently, hand pressed tightly to her mouth as she stifled a sob. Horatio came up beside her and put an arm around her waist gently. He waited until she had regained her composure.

"I don't understand," she whispered. "Kyle was ruthless in telling his ground crew to check that bomber thoroughly. So to have this happen…it just, I don't know." Tears spilled from her eyes. "Oh, God, my husband is gone, Lieutenant!"

Bethany began sobbing at that point, not in the soft and hurtful way, but loudly, and in terrible agony. The whole lab grew quiet as she sobbed on Horatio's arm and he whispered soothingly in her ear for comfort.

"Come sit with me," he said softly and led her to a bench, where they sat. Calleigh immediately appeared by Bethany's side. "Is she OK?" she asked.

"Could you get her a cup of coffee?" asked Horatio but Bethany shook her head.

"Water," she corrected. "I'm…I'm pregnant."

Horatio looked at her, stunned. As Calliegh walked off toward the break room he asked, "How far long are you?"

She sniffled. "Two weeks."

Good God. Two weeks…Bethany wasn't that far off. Horatio rubbed her back gently as Calleigh came back with a cup of water and wordlessly gave it to Bethany, who accepted it with a slight nod.

"Horatio, can I ask one thing of you?" she asked after a couple of sips of water.

"Sure, sweetheart."

"Can I hang around the lab? You know, until this is solved? I don't think this is right. I…I think that someone did something to the fuel tank."

Horatio thought. She wasn't alone in her feelings.