Keats, Natalia, and Valera were left in the back room by themselves. They were huddled in the corner, sweating profusely from lack of oxygen. The room was like a greenhouse.
They faded in and out, drowsy and detached. Nothing they attempted by way of communication seemed to work. They were at an extreme loss, and they could only wait to hear from Benicio again.
Horatio slipped on his sunglasses as he watched Detective Tripp usher the murderer into the squad car. It had been an uphill battle to convict him, but the satisfaction was enough to justify the means.
His cell rang impatiently and he reached to answer it.
"Lt. Caine, Miami Dade Police." He said. There was silence at the other end for a moment.
"Nice to hear from you, Caine. I always thought you were all right. For a cop."
"Benicio Guzman. What can I do for you today?" Horatio asked with a slight edge to his voice.
"Oh, plenty. I'd like to cut a deal with you, Caine." Benicio said sharply. Horatio motioned for Det. Tripp to trace the call on his cell using their wireless scanner.
"I'm listening, Mr. Guzman." Horatio said. Tripp typed in the code and the scanner immediately connected to Horatio's cell phone. The machine linked itself to Guzman's number and began tracing it across the state of Florida.
"I want to meet with you face to face, Caine. I want just five minutes alone with you to give you a piece of my mind…" He began, his tone harsh.
"Come down to the station and I'll make time for you." Horatio said in a soothing, semi-condescending way.
"I want you down here, Caine. Alone. As in, nobody comes with you. I want you unarmed, Caine…otherwise you're going to be without a few members of your prestigious team."
Horatio stood frozen in his tracks. Natalia Boa Vista and Maxine Valera had asked off work that very day.
"Talk to me, Guzman. What are the details of the arrangement?"
"I want to see your face tonight. There's an abandoned car dealership on Federman Ave. in Boca Raton. If you give me my five minutes, I'll release the girls."
Benicio hung up shortly thereafter, leaving Horatio with a sinister dial tone.
"Frank, I want a team on this. Now." He said.
"I won't disclose any names, Horatio. It could compromise the bias-"
"Whatever needs to be done, Frank. I've got to get them out of there."
Calleigh walked down the hall of Miami Dade, entering the ballistics lab where Delko and Wolfe were examining the shells from a recent bank robbery.
"You're going to have put that on hold. We've got another assignment." She handed them the file.
"Benicio Guzman is holding three people hostage in exchange for an unsupervised meeting between himself and Horatio." Calleigh murmured.
"Guzman…he's one of Clavo's men that slipped through the cracks during the raid." Eric said, glancing at Benicio's mugshot.
"In Boca Raton? Shouldn't the Palm Beach County P.D. take care of this?" Ryan asked, shedding his lab coat.
"I don't know. Horatio is taking this one personally for some reason. Instead of accompanying the local police in Palm Beach, he's getting several Dade County officers to back him up at the meeting place." Calleigh said, shrugging.
"Seems odd. Do you think we should ask him?" Delko wondered.
"I would, but I don't think he'd give us a straight answer." Wolfe replied.
They piled into Eric's hummer, Calleigh riding in the front seat next to him and Ryan in the backseat. They spent the few hours it took to get there talking and contemplating scenarios about Horatio's curious involvement with the case.
"What if he knows the hostages? Maybe there's something he's not telling us…what if it has to do with Yelina or something?" Eric pondered. Calleigh nodded objectively, thinking it very possible that he was right.
"Yelina isn't involved with Clavo Cruz. She was mixed up with Antonio Riaz. Different guy. You know that, Eric." Calleigh said.
"And I thought he was killed anyway." Ryan added.
"Yeah…Still, he has to have a big reason to drag us into this." Eric stated as they circled around Federman Ave. They were told to keep alert no more than a block away from the abandoned dealership.
"Benicio…here I am…you wanted time with me? You've got it." Horatio said as he moved his jacket out of the way to put his hands on his waist.
Benicio put out his cigarette and exhaled, coming closer to Horatio.
"No cops?" He asked, surveying the space around him.
"No cops. Are the hostages okay, Benicio? If they're not, you're going to pay."
"They're all right. Maybe a little roughed up, but they're alive."
"And they're going to stay alive, aren't they?" Horatio demanded.
"That depends on you." Benicio said, his face drawn and serious.
Keats was taken into a room above the first floor, bound and gagged, and eventually separated from Valera and Natalia.
This is my fault. My stupid birthday.
Keats was lying very still when she noticed a sharp pain in her back. She began to remember her bullet wound that she'd acquired from Edward Stryker. She'd forgotten all about it and, thus, she'd forgotten to make sure it was kept clean and free from infection.
She cringed as the pain got several degrees worse every passing minute.
Luis strode through the door, noticing how much she was beginning to sweat. He had moved her to that exact room because it was cooler, but yet she was still perspiring.
He leaned down and wiped her face and neck. Tejano came in and asked him a few questions in Spanish that Keats did not understand.
"I'm no doctor, but she looks awful." Luis said to Tejano. Tejano glanced worriedly at Keats, trying to plan a suitable course of action.
"If we take her to a hospital our cover will be blown." He muttered.
"But if we don't, she could die. And we'd get the chair for killing a little white girl." Luis answered him with frantic indecision.
"Whatever we do, we'd better do it quick. Her lips are turning blue and she's breathing like a racehorse." Tejano said, hooking his arms under Keats' knees and lifting her.
"Wait a second, Tejano…we could use this to our advantage. They'll do anything we want if we tell them she needs medical attention. It increases our bargaining power." Luis gave a nod, ensuring that his idea was a good one.
"What about the others?" Tejano asked.
"I'm letting them go. We don't need them when we've got our goldmine right here."
Natalia and Valera were taken to a back alley where they were untied and left to fend for themselves. Luis had since taken off.
"Where the hell is K.J.? Why did they let us go?" Natalia asked. Valera pulled out her cell and dialed Horatio's number.
There was no answer.