Title: Past and Present - Part 5
Author: Aeon Cole
Beta: posting this as I write it so no beta, all mistakes are my own
Rating: FRT
Warning: Slash
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: Horatio/Speed
Series: Friends and Family
Word Count: 1870
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
Michael sat in the interview room at MDPD waiting for the marshal who was supposed to be coming in to talk with him. He glanced out the window and could see a man talking to Horatio and Tim out into the squad room. He couldn't hear what they were saying but the conversation looked animated.
He was trying to keep his mind focused. Sitting in a police station interview room brought back some old memories. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and looked up just as the man walked in followed by a second. The first man held out his hand.
"Hello, Michael. My name is Agent Gabriel Barnes. I'm with the FBI." Michael shook his hand then looked up at the other man. Agent Barnes glanced over his shoulder and said, "This is Federal Marshal Kevin Garcia. We need to talk to you about your friend Howard Little."
Michael looked back and forth between the two men. As Agent Barnes took a seat across the table from him, the other man remained standing, and silent. Michael was already beginning to see how this was going to play. After all this wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with the police, though it had been a very long time.
"I'm not sure how much more I can tell you," he said. "I've already told the detectives everything I know."
"Well, why don't you go over it again, for our benefit," Barnes said casually. Michael repeated the same story he'd told Calleigh the day before. "So you met Mr. Little when you moved to Miami three months ago?"
"Yes, that's right," Michael answered.
Barnes glanced behind him to the marshal who reached into a file he was carrying and pulled out a photo. Barnes slid the photo across the table to Michael. Michael looked at it, not terribly surprised by the face that stared back at him. It was an old black and white photo of a young black man in his late teens, maybe early twenties. It was a police mug shot. Michael recognized the boy in the photo though he wasn't about to admit that to the feds. In fact, it had taken all of his will power not to react when Horatio told him Howie's real name.
"I'm sorry. Is this supposed to mean something to me?" Michael asked keeping his expression neutral.
The marshal stepped forward and dropped the file he was holding onto the table in front of Michael. "Let's cut the crap, shall we. We don't have all day," he said. Michael glanced at the file then back up at the marshal questioningly. "Don't you want to know what that is?"
Michael raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He did his best to appear uninterested. "If you feel like it," he answered.
"That, Mr. Speedle, is your life," Garcia said. "Since the day you crawled out of your mother's belly. Every family member, every friend, every known associate. Every school, every job, every employer." He paused for a moment before adding, "Every arrest, every conviction. Should I continue?"
Michael's demeanor changed perceptibly; he straightened his back and his eyes hardened just a bit. He glanced over at Barnes and with a slight smirk he said, "Let me guess, he's the bad cop."
"You think this is a joke?" Garcia asked raising his voice only slightly.
"What do you want from me? Yeah, ok, I recognize this kid in the photo. But that was sixty years ago. When I met Howie, I didn't recognize him. I had no idea who he was." Then a thought struck him and he mumbled, almost to himself, "But he knew who I was."
"You're getting the point, Mr. Speedle. The problem I have now is that you're connected to this case," Garcia said.
"I am not connected to anything. My meeting up with Terrance Cleveland again was a coincidence," Michael insisted. "I wasn't even aware of who he was until Horatio mentioned it yesterday. And even then I didn't believe him."
"So you're going to admit knowing him now?" Garcia asked.
"Knew him," Michael said. "I knew him sixty years ago. We were kids. He was driving for Tony Sr. and I was running numbers. Six years, that's all I did. Earned enough scrub to go to college."
"Maybe so but your ties were never completely cut, were they? The mob doesn't offer a 401K and their retirement plan comes complete with a tombstone. According to our records, just after your son was born in 1967, you borrowed a large sum of money from Anthony Maldonado, Jr. to open a restaurant in Oceanside."
"And I paid that money back plus interest within the year. I didn't owe Little Tony anything after that," Michael said. "And I had no more contact with him either."
"Well that may be the case but given your current circumstances, the mob may not see it that way," Garcia said.
Michael gave him an ironic laugh. "My circumstances? You know what my circumstances are, Mr. Garcia? I'm an old man at the end of my life. I don't anticipate seeing the end of the year." He pointed at the small oxygen tank that he carried around with him. "Lung cancer. A lifetime of smoking, a habit I picked up as a kid."
Garcia nodded. "I don't know if word has gotten back to New Jersey about you yet. But I'd watch my back if I were you. If they even suspect that Cleveland told you anything, especially given what your son does for a living, you know what could happen."
Michael nodded. He knew all to well what Tony, Jr. was capable of. He may have cut his ties with the organization decades ago but he still heard things.
"They found a bug in my apartment. Did you put that there or did Tony's crew?" Michael asked.
"The bugs that the MDPD found were not ours. Believe me, they'll never find the ones we planted," Garcia said.
Michael's eyes widened. "You have my place bugged? Then you must've had Terry's place bugged too." Garcia remained silent but Michael could tell from the look in the other man's eyes that he was right. "You set Terry up, didn't you? That's why you left him in that place instead of keeping him in a safe house you son of a bitch."
Garcia tried to hide his amusement as he said, "Mr. Cleveland was disposable, a good decoy. He knew the risks before he agreed to this assignment. We played him up to be our star witness. Little Tony's driver, the man who was privy to all the private conversations. The truth is we have our star witness locked away nice and safe and ready to testify next month."
Michael was fuming over Garcia's smug attitude toward a man he still considered to be his friend despite everything that had happened. He placed his hands flat on the table in front of him and stood, bringing himself up to his full height and leaning over the table. He got right in Garcia's face as he spoke.
"You had no right to treat him like that," Michael growled.
"He volunteered," Garcia shot back.
"And you tossed him to the sharks," Michael countered.
From outside the room, Horatio and Tim saw the interview suddenly turn heated and decided it was time to intervene. They pushed their way through the door.
"Gentlemen," Horatio interrupted. They all turned to look at him. "I think this interview is over."
Tim stood protectively at his father's side with a hand on his shoulder. Garcia stood and straightened his jacket then glanced over at Barnes. Both men headed for the door.
"For now, Lieutenant, for now," Barnes said as they walked out leaving Michael's file sitting open on the table.
Tim looked at his father. "Dad? Is everything all right?"
"Bastards," Michael muttered as he sat down. Tim took a seat next to him. Once Michael had gotten his temper under control, he glanced over at his son with just a hint of amusement in his eyes. "That was sort of fun. It's been a long time since I could piss off federal agents."
Horatio and Tim exchanged a glance. "What the hell is going on, dad?"
Horatio took notice of the file sitting open on the table. He moved closer and was able to see exactly what it was. "Um, Michael?" he questioned as he tuned the file around and pushed it toward Tim. "Care to explain?"
On top of the file was the mug shot of Terrance Cleveland. On the opposite page was another mug shot. This one was of a very young Michael Speedle. Tim looked at it then over at his father.
"Dad?"
Michael remained silent for a moment but he knew there was no way around the truth. After all, all they had to do was read the file. "It was a long time ago, Tim," Michael said. "I was a kid."
Michael proceeded to tell them all about his misspent youth running numbers for Big Tony Maldonado and palling around with his nineteen-year-old driver Terry Cleveland as well as Big Tony's eldest son, Little Tony, who was a year older than Michael. He'd started when he was fourteen, toward the tail end of World War II, to earn some extra money for his family while his father was overseas. He'd socked away some money for himself as well and used it to pay for college later on.
He explained that when he decided to open his own restaurant, Little Tony, who'd taken over the family business from his father, had loaned him the startup money. He'd paid it all back out of the first years profits and had no direct ties to the New Jersey crime boss since.
By the time he'd finished Tim was standing by the window looking out over the parking lot. He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "Why didn't you ever tell me about this before?" he asked.
"Exactly when was I supposed to do that, huh? During the twenty years we weren't speaking to each other? Maybe when I was lying in the hospital?" Michael asked. "It was a long time ago, Tim. I put that part of my life behind me when you were born."
Michael closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Another headache?" Horatio asked. Michael nodded. "Tim, maybe you should take your father home. We can talk about all of this later, after he's rested."
Tim nodded and walked over to his father. "Come on, dad. Let's get out of here," he said as he helped his father up.
"Don't you have work to do?" Michael asked.
Tim glanced over at Horatio then back to his father. "I've been taken off this case, conflict of interest reasons. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be on your own right now." Tim understood what could happen if Little Tony Maldonado found out that his father was hanging around with Terrance Cleveland again.
"I hate being babysat," Michael griped.
"Get used to it," Tim replied as they left the room.
TBC