"Nooooo" Calleigh said, frustrated, as she was entering the lab now. Eric and Wolf were there and Calleigh wasted no time updating them both. Eric tried to reassure her and went straight to work on the cell phone. She put out a call to Detective Frank Tripp and explained what had happened. She explained to Frank that Eric was trying to get a location on Horatio's cell phone now. Frank questioned Calleigh about it.
"Horatio's cell phone?" Frank asked.
"Yes" Calleigh answered him, annoyed.
"Wait, let me get this straight" he started "You called H and left a message, he did not get back to you yet, so you called him again and..."
"Right" Calleigh said. Losing patience and cutting Frank off.
"Only then a woman answered and said she knew a red haired lieutenant" Frank continued.
"Yes!" She huffed, getting more annoyed by the minute, thinking we should be out there looking for him!
"She said Horatio was there Frank! She was toying with me!" She knew my name, she must have his phone, it has caller ID."
Frank sensed her frustration, she was worried. So was he, he was just trying to get all the facts down.
"So why would she be using his phone?" Frank said thinking out loud now.
"Frank, she was laughing the whole time and I did hear something in
the background when she first answered the call." Calleigh said.
"Something like what?" Frank asked.
"A…bang or I don't know!... But then I swear I heard a… " Calleigh paused, holding her breath. Afraid to say, what she thought she heard.
Wolf asked her "Calleigh what did you hear?"
Eric just looked up at her, his eyes also asking the question, as Frank was listening, waiting for her to answer. She had him on speaker-phone in the lab, this way they could all talk and listen. Just then Alex walked in and asked "Hey has anybody seen Horatio, he was supposed to meet me in…"
She stopped mid sentence realizing something was wrong. They all looked dazed, like they were in shock or something.
"What's wrong?" Alex quickly questioned.
"We think…" Wolf started and Frank cut him off harshly.
"Calleigh?" Frank called out from the speaker-phone, now he was annoyed. "What did you hear?"
"I think I heard Horatio say no and then I heard a grunt" and…she almost whispered now "A painful groan."
Wolf started to tell Calleigh, she could not possibly know who was groaning, "It could have been anyone." Wolf said, trying to reassure her.
Calleigh's eyes narrowed and met with his and he knew he should have shut up. He just put his head down, not looking at Calleigh now and tried to change the subject.
"Anything on H's cell, Eric?" Wolf asked, trying to get Calleigh's angry eyes off him now. Now, Eric was also glaring at him too. Alex broke the tension and asked,
"Has anyone tried calling Horatio's home yet?"
Calleigh snapped out of her haze, of course she thought. Frank told Calleigh he was going to go over to H's house and check on things.
"I'll call you back as soon as I know something and if anything changes let me know."
"Ok, thanks Frank." Calleigh said and pushed the receiver down, she let go and started dialing again. She was dialing Horatio's home number, looking over to Alex as it began to ring.
"Pick up Horatio!" She spoke down into the phone.
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring…...They all just waited, and listened. Suddenly someone pick up the phone.
"Horatio?" Calleigh asked, in a surprised voice.
There was silence, then they heard a muffled sound…..They all searched each others eyes now. What was that…..they all heard it?
"Hello! Hello!" Calleigh raised her voice now, almost desperate.
"Calleigh?" Asked a voice over the phone, it was soft and sweet, it was a woman.
"Yes, this is Calleigh." She answered quickly.
"Calleigh, this is your third phone call now, I told you, the lieutenant was all tied up." She laughed into the phone.
Alex gasped and put her hand to her mouth. Wolf came closer and Eric stood up now. They were all listening intently. There was another muffled sound and then a groan. Calleigh's eyes narrowed as she tried to hear what was happening.
"Well if you really need to speak with him I guess, I can help, but…we- were- just-leaving."
More muffled sounds, struggling, groaning, and then she spoke.
"Lieutenant, lieutenant, say hello, Calleigh's on the phone again." She laughed.
"Lieutenant, here let me help you!" She said in a devious voice. The sound of the baton came through the phone, followed by hisgroan of pain. "Arrrggggggg!" And then after a moment his voice,
"C..al… Clau..Arrrrrrrrrggg..." In a loud growl.
The buzzing sound started again and a soft voice said "Come on lieutenant, you can do better than that!"
The only sound now was his pain, "Arrrggggggggggggggg!" A momentlater the line went dead!
Now the only sound heard was the dial tone echoing through the lab. No one spoke a word. Alex had her hand over her mouth in shock still and Calleigh was just staring down at the phone. Eric walked over to Calleigh, looked at her and hung up the line.
He began dialing another number right away, he was calling Frank.
"Frank we just called H's home, they're still there. "Frank you have to get over there now, right now Frank! She said they were leaving."
"What...who said they're leaving? Ok, Frank answered "But how do you"…
Eric just cut him off and yelled. "Just get the hell over there Frank, H is in trouble!"
Calleigh snapped out of her haze and said "let's go."
Eric hung up and Alex said" I'm going with you too." Calleigh looked at Alex.
They were out the door in seconds. They Jumped in the Hummers and drove to Horatio's house.
Frank was the first to arrive; he pulled his gun and went in, two other officers were backing him up. There were signs of a struggle and they began checking the house, one of the officers called out "clear! We're all clear!"
Frank was in the doorway to Horatio's bedroom and thought if he onlygot there sooner. He began to examine the room with his eyes and he knew, Horatio put up a fight! What the hell happened here? He stood there waiting in the doorway, waiting for the team to get there. The crime scene was undisturbed and that would help them process it without question. He'd seen too many times how the crime scenes were compromised. He hung his head, wishing he could have helped his friend..…..his phone rang….it was Eric.
"Frank what happened, is H there?"
"No, Frank hesitated, "He's gone Eric" His voice low, he was upset.
"Eric any clue who this woman is?" Franks asked angry.
"No, none! Dam it!" Eric said, as he hit the wheel with his fist.
"We'll be there in five Frank, don't let anyone near the crime scene!"
"I Know Eric- got it" Frank answered, shaking his head thinking again, what the hell happened here?
Eric and Wolf were the first to arrive and were just getting out of the hummer when Calleigh and Alex pulled up.
"Well?" Calleigh questioned, looking to Eric.
TBC...