Chapter 7
Tommy Mayberry had the walk of a man who had issues with life and an almost obscene smile as he sat down across from Horatio and Eric. Tall and thin, with green-streaked brown and blue-green eyes, he sat there radiating confidence and smugness.
"How's Bethany?" he asked. "I heard she gave birth at the lab."
"Odd for you to ask about her," said Horatio, "when you hated her husband so much." Tommy's grin faded.
"True, I thought little of my CO," he said slowly. "He was an arrogant bastard – but I still don't see…"
Horatio placed a photo of the mushroomed bullet and a photo of the fuel tank before him. "Know what that is?" he asked. Tommy glanced at them then shook his head. "A fuel tank?" he asked roughly.
"From the vintage Lancaster bomber that Shannon was piloting the day he died," said Horatio. "That bullet was taken out of it."
"Steve told us that you have a handgun," said Eric.
"I do."
"Mind if we look at it for comparison?" asked Horatio. Tommy glared at him.
"You think I shot Shannon out of the sky, don't you?" he shouted. "Well, here's some news you don't hear often: I thought about it, OK? I saw you talking to him Lieutenant…and I thought about shooting that bastard down. He had me bloody court-martialed for playing a joke on his wife for God's sake…the man couldn't even take a joke…"
"Bethany was pregnant when you 'played a joke'," said Eric. "Maybe your CO thought that it was a threat."
"Look, I'm glad that Shannon's dead," said Tommy softly, coldly. "Our squadron's better off without him. But I'm telling you both the truth. I wouldn't kill him out right."
"Why is that?" Horatio asked.
Tommy rubbed at his eyes. "Because I'm in love with his wife," he said after a while. "OK? Bethany is the most beautiful woman on earth and the thought…the fact that she chose to marry Shannon was disgusting."
"So you wanted to kill Shannon so you could get with his wife?" asked Eric. "That's just sad."
Tommy looked at him. "Come on, Officers, you both tell me that you've not looked at her and thought those things. I only did what I did to get Shannon pissed off…not to hurt Beth."
"She has a different story," said Horatio. "Now…your gun."
"Fine! Take the deviled thing!" Tommy placed the gun on the table. "Can I go now?"
"Don't go far," said Horatio.
- - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -
As soon as Tommy left, Bethany appeared in the crime lab with the newly-christened Calleigh Shannon in her arms.
"Tommy's admitted to thinking about killing Kyle," said Horatio when she asked. "But not to actually shooting him down."
Bethany pursed her lips in thought. "That bloody coward," she said. She looked at him. "What else did he say?"
Horatio didn't want to tell her about Tommy's perverted declaration of love but instead he told her, "Calleigh is looking over Mayberry's gun as we speak for prints. Hopefully it'll get us somewhere and give you closure."
She nodded and looked at the wall. "Kyle's father called me while I was still in the hospital," he said, "getting his funeral arranged. It's set for November 24th. I…" She looked at him. "I was hoping that you and your CSI team would fly to England for it. I understand if all of you can't."
Horatio smiled at her, touched for thinking of them. "Of course we will," he said. "We'd be honored."
"Good." Bethany smiled a little when she saw Calleigh Duquesne approaching them. A smile spread on the blond woman's face as she beheld the baby for the second time.
"How's my little clone?" she asked.
"As gorgeous as she was the other day," replied Bethany. "You want to hold her later, Miss Duquesne?"
"Oh, I'd love to. If you don't mind, Beth, I'd like to kidnap Horatio for a bit."
When they were pulled over to the side Horatio asked, "Did we get any prints of the gun?"
Calleigh nodded and handed him the results. "You won't guess who, though," she said.
Horatio stared at what she had given him and his heart jumped. That bastard, he thought then he looked up at Calleigh. "I'll need you to call Eric," he said. "Looks like we have to visit Mr. Wallace again…only this time with handcuffs."