Title: Past and Present - Part 2
Author: Aeon Cole
Beta: posting this as I write it so no beta, all mistakes are my own
Rating: FRT (this chapter)
Warning: Slash
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: Horatio/Speed
Series: Friends and Family
Word Count: 1730
Summary: Horatio and Tim get ready to celebrate their second anniversary as they investigate a murder at Michael's apartment complex. But not everything turns out the way they hope when Michael becomes ill.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
ooo
Arya snapped her phone shut. "You know, Horatio, every so often he reminds me why we don't live together any more," she said shaking her head.
Even though she and her husband never talked about it anymore they both knew that the real reason they hadn't gone through with the divorce plans had nothing to do with them reconciling and everything to do with Michael's health. They happily lived their separate lives though they remained husband and wife.
Horatio chuckled and pulled his mother-in-law into another hug. "Let Tim deal with him right now. I'm sure he'll come around."
Arya sighed. "I know. He just refuses every offer I make to help him."
Horatio shrugged. "He's just used to being on his own now," he said.
"He's been more grumpy than usual lately. I guess I'm just worried."
"You think it's his health?" Horatio asked.
Arya shrugged. "He's moody and he won't talk to me. It could be anything."
"Hmm. Like father, like son," Horatio replied and they both laughed.
"Any idea when they'll be back?"
"Hard to tell. Depends on the investigation."
ooo
Alexx walked into the apartment and found Tim and Calleigh examining the area around the body. "Sorry I'm late. Had another call on the other side of town."
"Busy day," Tim said.
"You have no idea, Timmy," Alexx replied as she pulled on her gloves and crouched down next to the body. She did a cursory examination before rolling him over. "Well I can give you cause of death," she said. "His throat's been slashed; deep by the looks of it. He bled out." She looked up at Tim. "Who'd want to hurt an old man like this anyway?"
"I guess that's what we have to figure out," Tim replied. He turned to Calleigh. "Cal, you got things covered in here? I want to go talk to my dad again and see if there's anything else he remembers."
"Sure, Tim, go ahead," she replied.
After Tim walked out Alexx turned to Calleigh and said, "I heard Michael was the one who found the body."
"Yeah," Calleigh replied. "Apparently they were friends. Tim's dad was expecting him this morning and when he didn't show he went looking."
ooo
Tim made his way down the hall and knocked on his father's door. Michael called him in and Tim found him sitting on the sofa in front of the television with Oscar in his lap. He walked over and gave the cat a scratch on the head. Oscar purred loudly.
"Shouldn't you be over at Howie's investigating or whatever?" Michael asked without looking at him.
"Calleigh's got it covered for now and Alexx just arrived. I came over to see how you were doing."
Michael huffed. "Why is everyone treating me like a child? I'm seventy-four years old for cryin' out loud. And I'm fine."
Tim took a deep breath trying to ignore his father's outburst. He knew he was upset. "Okay fine. I need to know if you remember anything else about Howie that might help. Did you hear anything last night? Do you remember anything from yesterday?"
Michael's head was starting to pound and he wasn't in the mood to answer questions. "Look, I told you everything I know and if I'd heard anything last night I would've said so," he snapped back.
Now Tim was getting frustrated. He knew that his father was upset but he didn't understand where the anger at him was coming from. "Ok, you know what, I think I'm the wrong person to be doing this. You obviously don't want to talk to me right now," he said and turned to leave.
Michael sighed. "Wait," he called. Tim paused but didn't turn to face his father, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Tim nodded. "I'm getting a headache. It's hard to concentrate."
Tim turned. "Ok, but I'm going to send Calleigh in. Take some aspirin," he said then he walked out.
Michael sighed as he heard the door shut. He knew he shouldn't take his mood out on his son but he couldn't help himself. Between what the doctor had told him yesterday and what happened to Howie he didn't think he could take much more. He shooed Oscar off his lap and struggled to his feet. The pain in his legs was getting worse and he was having some difficulty walking. He managed to get to the bathroom and take something for his headache just before he heard a knock at the door. He walked over to the door leaning on his cane and pulled it open.
Calleigh and Frank stood at the door. Calleigh smiled. "Can we come and talk to you for a moment?" Michael rolled his eyes and sighed. He stepped aside and let the two past. "Mr. Speedle, we'd like to ask you a few more questions about your friend," Calleigh said as Michael made his way over to the couch.
He reached down to balance himself on the arm of the sofa so he could sit but was having a bit of trouble. Frank walked over and took his arm. "Let me give you a hand," he said.
Michael accepted the help and said, "Thanks." He wondered briefly why he had an easier time accepting help from strangers and always resisted it from his family. "I already told Tim everything I know. I don't know how much more I can add."
"Well sometimes people know things that they don't realize. How well did you know Mr. Little?" she asked.
"Well enough, I guess. I've only been in Miami for three months but I met Howie right away. Turned out we'd grown up not to far from each other up north."
"Where was he from?" Frank asked.
"Woodbridge, New Jersey. I grew up just on the other side of the river in Staten Island."
Frank started taking some notes. "Did he have any family?"
"None that he talked about. His wife died a few years back. That's when he moved down here. He never mentioned any children."
"Do you know what he did for a living before he retired?" Calleigh asked.
"He told me he and his wife owned a used book store in Elizabeth. He sold it when she died."
"Ok, one last question," Frank said. "This place has tight security and a practically nonexistent crime rate. Do you have any idea who could've done this?"
Michael shook his head. "Honestly, I can't imagine." He brought his hand up and rubbed his forehead.
"Are you ok?" Calleigh asked.
"Just a headache, side effect of the chemo," Michael replied.
Calleigh nodded. "We'll leave you alone for now. But we may need you to come down to the station to give us a formal statement. Do you think you'll be able to do that?"
"Not a problem. Just let me know when," Michael said. "Do you mind finding your own way out?"
"Sure, we'll give you a call if we need anything else," Calleigh said before they showed themselves out.
ooo
Speed walked into the Trace lab and dropped a pile of evidence bags on the table. He pulled the flash card out of his camera and popped it into the slot in his laptop then he sorted through the pictures he'd taken and started printing. As the pictures printed he started taking down notes for the case file. This is how Horatio found him a few minutes later when he walked into the room.
"How'd it go?" he asked. Speed glanced over at him but didn't say anything. "That well, huh?"
"I'd like to attribute my father's mood to the fact that he's just found his friend dead," he replied.
"But…" Horatio prodded him.
"I don't know. I just get the feeling he's hiding something from me. I don't know if it's to do with the case or something else."
"Do you really think he knows something about this case?" Horatio asked.
Tim shrugged. "I seriously doubt it. Which actually worries me more," he said. "He didn't look well when I saw him. He said he had a headache and he looked like he was having trouble walking."
"Arya sensed something earlier today when she talked to him on the phone, but he wouldn't talk to her. She said to call her, by the way. I think she and Alexx are plotting again. Something to do with our anniversary." Tim rolled his eyes. "So what did you two find?"
Tim redirected his focus to the case at hand. "The victim's throat was slashed and his apartment was ransacked. We lifted fingerprints as well as shoe prints. I left those with Eric. Alexx is going to print the body and send me his clothes. Calleigh's with her right now for the post."
"Good, are you sure you're going to be ok working this case?" he asked. He had to be sure.
Tim nodded. "Yeah. But I'm going to let Calleigh deal with my dad as a witness. He seems more willing to talk to her than me."
"What did she find out from him?" Horatio asked.
"Just some general information about the vic. Though his life history sounds sort of generic to me. At least the way my father repeated it."
"You think this guy is not who he says he was?"
Tim pursed his lips. "Don't know. We'll know more when we can run his prints. I'm still a bit concerned as to how someone got in. I got the security tapes from the owners. Hopefully they can give us a better idea."
ooo
Calleigh pushed open the door to the autopsy theater. "Hi, Alexx," she said with a smile as she walked over to the table. "So what can you tell me about our vic?"
"Well, his throat was not slit, not with a knife anyway."
Calleigh looked at the body then back at Alexx. "Ok you've got my attention. If this wasn't done with a knife then what?" she asked puzzled.
"A garrote. Thin metal wire wrapped around his neck then pulled tight." She pointed to the area around the cut. "See how the skin is pulled into the wound. It's like that all of the way around. I couldn't see it before at the scene because of all the blood."
"This sound more like a hit than a simple robbery gone bad," Calleigh said.
TBC