Chapter 11 – Reactions, Revenge and Realizations
Meanwhile (meaning same time as Calleigh is kidnapped)
Meanwhile…back at the lab…
The absent minded custodian of the crime lab quietly whistled a romantic love song as he briskly pushed the cart down the silent halls. Stopping at the glass door, Mr. Gilruth cheerfully wiped the filthy table, chairs, windows and door, hiding away all traces of the day's work.
Mr. Gilruth cleaned his way down to Interrogation Room #9 and as he reached the door he saw inanimate objects on the table. From the angle and distance he was standing at he couldn't tell what they were, so he snapped is white latex gloves on and cautiously stepped through the door. Approaching the table, the janitor saw a tiny pool of deep red blood, a gun, a badge and a recording device. Long blonde strands of hair littered the small area of the floor around the blood.
The surprised man rushed out of the room and pulled out his cell phone. Without hesitation he dialed an unfamiliar number, that of Lieutenant Horatio Caine.
Horatio's Office
The soothing vibrations of his mobile awakened Horatio from his fitful slumber. Groggily, he lifted his head off his two thumbs, formerly supporting his throbbing forehead.
"Caine," H answered still somewhat sleepy.
"Lieutenant Caine? It's Mr. Gilruth, the custodian," the man replied.
"Of course. How may I help you?"
"Well, Lt. you know I don't call often, because I am supposed to call Det. Forini, the night-shift supervisor and I may get fired because I broke protocol, but I thought you should be the first to know," Mr. Gilruth babbled, "I came down to clean the interrogation rooms and when I got to Room #9, I saw blood and hair and a badge and…uh…I think it might be Detective Duquesne's."
In the blink of an eye, Horatio bolted out of his chair leaping into a standing position.
"Pardon?" Horatio asked incredulously. "How did you come to this conclusion?"
"Well, sir, Miss Calleigh is the only one on the dayshift who has blonde hair, and…if I check my chart…she was the last one in the interrogation room with a Mr. Rick Stetler."
"I have a few more questions to ask you, Mr. Gilruth, so if you don't mind waiting for a minute I will be right down."
"No problem, Lt."
Horatio ran down the stairs two at a time, with his kit and camera, racing to get to the interrogation rooms. The Miami Dade was fiercely protective of each other. You hurt one of them, you hurt them all.
Within minutes, the lieutenant had reached the anxious custodian.
"Thank you very much for your call, Mr. Gilruth," Horatio said appreciatively.
"Anythin' I can do to help Miss Calleigh," he replied.
"So, how did you know, Calleigh?"
"Well sometimes Miss Calleigh is still here when I clean the labs and she is always so nice and kind. She even offered to help me clean up some of the labs! No one else has ever paid attention to me or even thought about helpin' me. She just brightened up my day, so whenever I see her, we talk for a little bit and sometimes she'll get me a coffee or somethin'. She's just a really nice lady, Lt. I hope nothin' bad has happened to her," the janitor explained earnestly, his strong Texan accent coming through as he spoke.
A smile graced the Lieutenant's face as he thought about his passionate ballistics expert's never-ending care for those around her although his smile instantly vanished as he remembered why he was here.
"Mr. Gilruth, if you don't mind staying here, it would be much appreciated," Horatio hinted at the grey-haired man, "now might also be a good time to call Detective Forini and update him on the situation."
A slight look of fear crossed the custodian's face at the reminder of his supervisor.
Horatio, recognizing fright when he saw it, smiled warmly and said, "Don't worry about Todd, I'll take care of him when he gets here."
The other man nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He liked the Lt. He was very nice and polite, unlike his supervisor…
In the room, Horatio pulled out his gloves from his breast pocket, set down his kit and looked around. Walking over to the blood, he crouched down and photographed the evidence. Leaving the camera to swing around his neck, Horatio pulled out some manila envelopes, placing a blonde hair in each one and rolled the swab in the dark blood. After collecting the evidence on the floor, he turned to the table. He picked up the golden MDPD badge and flipped it open and the words Calleigh Duquesne never stood out clearer to the lieutenant. Horatio placed the gun and the badge in their respective envelopes and then picked up the recording device.
The red light on the left side, told him it was still recording, and with luck, maybe it would have captured the whole episode. Horatio then turned it off and placed it in another envelope.
Horatio continued processing the scene; photographing, collecting trace, and fingerprinting for the next 20 minutes. He then pulled off his latex gloves placed them in an envelope and stepped outside of the interrogation room. The worried custodian walked up to him and asked nervously, "Well? Is it her? Mr. Forini said he would be down here in 20 minutes, but that was 20 minutes ago…so…he should be here now…but Lt, please tell me! Is everythin' alright with Miss Calleigh?"
"I don't know yet, Mr. Gilruth, but I have a suspicion that things are about to go terribly wrong from here."
Just at that moment, Detective Todd Forini sauntered down the hallway towards the two men. His thick black hair was slicked back and his pink button down shirt hid his short neck. He wore a black jacket and black dress pants, swaggering down the halls with a self-righteous air.
A complete contrast to Horatio, Forini was disrespectful of everyone other than himself and superiors, with no compassion for others.
"What the hell is this all about, Gilruth?" Forini roared.
"Well sir, I was cleanin' out the interrogation rooms and I saw somethin' on the floor and on the table and I thought it might be Detective Duquesne's and so I called Lt. Caine, sir," Mr.Gilruth mumbled quickly.
"Caine? You know protocol! You should have called me! I am your supervisor! Not Caine!" the man yelled.
"Of course, sir," the janitor replied timidly.
"Quit your whimpering and do your job!" Forini ordered.
Horatio looked at the cruel man with cold eyes, bright blue eyes darkening changing to a peacock.
"Todd. Nice to see you too. Give the man a break would you? He did what he thought was right," Horatio defended.
"Caine," Forini all but snarled, "you have no authorization here. It's my turf now. You have got no right to any evidence at all."
"If you don't mind me saying, at the time of Mr. Gilruth's it was technically still the day shift's jurisdiction. By about 2 minutes," Horatio said smoothly.
"Oh two minutes? That could be a mistake in your watch! That creates enough reasonable doubt-"
"It is my CSI in jeopardy, Todd! I have already processed the scene and I'm sure the night shift has enough cases on their hands. This is my case, Detective. Take it to the Chief if you like, but I am going to continue with the investigation while you protest," Horatio said calmly, yet his eyes burned with dislike and fury.
The detective gaped with his mouth opening and closing like a hungry fish at the cool, collected Lieutenant.
"Fine. This is your problem now, Caine, don't expect any of my help on this case. My team and I are not going to be of any assistance in this investigation, even if it is an officer in jeopardy."
"I wouldn't dream of asking for your help, Forini."
Forini stormed off angrily, leaving Horatio to concentrate on the task at hand. His detective.
The Lieutenant flipped open his cell phone to inform the team, Frank, and Yelina.
Half an hour later…
Eric, Ryan, Frank, Yelina, Alexx, and Horatio were standing around one of the tables in the evidence locker.
"Guys, I have some bad news," Horatio said solemnly.
"H, where's Calleigh?" Eric asked worriedly.
"That's just it, Eric, I don't know," he responded despondently.
"What?!" Alexx cried.
"How can you not know where she is?" Ryan questioned disbelievingly.
"Please, let me finish."
"Sorry, Horatio," chorused throughout the room.
"The custodian, Mr. Gilruth, called me and told me there were some objects and blood in the interrogation room # 9. I went down and processed… it was Calleigh's gun and badge. There was also hair and blood and we need DNA to process it but I'm pretty sure it's Calleigh's as well. Something's wrong…and I'm afraid someone is going to get hurt."
The evidence locker fell silent as realization dawned on the team and detectives.
"Well, what can we do, H?" Eric asked bravely even though fear filled his eyes and his worried was etched on his face.
"Process," Horatio said simply.
"I'm on fingerprints," Eric offered.
"I'll take trace," Ryan said and the two set off for their labs.
"DNA is waiting for me," Horatio said.
"What about us?" Alexx asked, "What can we do?"
"Well, Mr. Gilruth said that Stetler," Horatio growled at the sound of the IAB agent's name, "was the last one inside the interrogation room, Yelina, find him please. Frank please find out if anyone saw anything suspicious after, before, or during the interview. Security tapes would be helpful," Horatio directed.
"And me?"
"You sit tight, Alexx, if there are any medical emergencies or questions we will need you. In the meantime finish up whatever case you have and spend some time with your family. I get the feeling we will all be pulling a lot of doubles and triples until we find out what happened to Calleigh.
Alexx was like the mother hen of the crime lab and she knew something was wrong with Horatio in an instant. She waited until Frank and Yelina had left to ask her question.
"Horatio? Did you call her cell phone?" Alexx asked gently.
"That's what I'm afraid of, Alexx. Her cell phone wasn't with the rest of her things, if she has it and she really is in danger, I'm not sure if I should call it. It could make things worse. I'm thinking that if the kidnappers forgot to get rid of her cell phone, she may still be able to use it. Actually, Alexx, before you go, can you ask Cooper to see if he can get a remote idea of where she is."
"Of course. And Horatio, remember, Calleigh's a fighter. Whatever is happening with her, she will pull through it."
A/N No cliffhanger guys! I will try and update really soon. Review PLEASE! Make a newly 13 year old's day!