Keats used the rope around her wrists to pull against the tree, using its strength to travel along the length of it. She climbed until her arms were sore, resting one leg over the side of a branch.

She tore at a broken piece of wood, sharpening it and rubbing it against her bindings. After a long time, she finally freed herself, descending from the tree slowly. Her muscles ached, but she gave Haney a warm smile.

She held out her hands, showing him the split rope. Haney nodded, holding open the passenger side door of his truck.

"A promise is a promise, Red. But don't expect me to be a model citizen or anything. I'm just going to do you a favor. After I drop you off in Miami…don't expect to see me again."

"What? You mean you're not mad at me anymore? I thought I ruined your life." Keats murmured, fiddling with the knobs of his air conditioner. She buckled her seat belt and waited for Haney to back out.

Haney drove off in the early morning, gazing out at the rising sun. It was dark red and seemed to bleed across the clouds, making Keats mildly uneasy.

"What good would it do to stay mad at you? You don't have any money, you're more trouble than you're worth…Hell, you ain't even my type." He said, lighting a dark cigarette.

Keats knew he was sparing her out of the kindness of his heart. She just wished she could get him to believe that.

Ryan finally arrived at the college. There were hordes of people crowded against each other, shoulder to shoulder. He was sweating profusely, weak and exhausted. He had been there for ten minutes when he was finally rewarded with a clear view of Keats receiving her diploma.

She had seen him. He waved Heaven knows how much to get her attention. She smiled at him, continuing on to shake the hands of the faculty.

It was then that he noticed his cell phone. He had received a message from Delko, wondering why Wolfe had cooperated with Erica on a rather biased newscast.

Ryan gave a gruff sigh. Erica had promised to wait a few days before airing the program.

He slipped out of the graduation ceremony, grimly determined to do a little damage control. Before he left, he glanced at Keats one more time and fixed the image in his memory.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough back at the hotel. You were supposed to wait a few days before releasing the story. I didn't get enough time to clear it with my superiors." Ryan said, looming over Erica like a storm cloud.

Erica was oblivious to his anger, or perhaps she did not care. Teasing him seemed to amuse her.

"You know as well as I do that the story would have been cold by then. I had to strike while the iron was hot…I was just giving my audience what they wanted." She said with a justified smirk.

"I've been really cooperative about your involvement with certain cases. But since you've just proven to me that I can't trust you, consider yourself unwelcome at any crime scene from now on." Ryan stormed off, leaving the television station in a fury.

Keats said her goodbyes to Haney. It was more difficult than she thought it would be. Haney represented a time when she would have jumped through fire for Ryan. But now, she was going to have to move on and grow up a little before she could even consider marrying him.

Saying goodbye to Haney was like saying goodbye to Ryan. The very idea made her incredibly sad.

"Why the hell are you crying? I could have killed you and you're weeping like I'm your stupid boyfriend." Haney said, coughing. He put out his cigarette and shook her hand.

His hand was sooty and rough, firm and large. He lifted his hat to her and closed the door. He began to drive away slowly, as though it would hurt her less.

Keats entered the apartment she shared with Ryan and was glad he wasn't home. She wasn't anxious to tell him it was over.

She cleaned herself up and began packing her things up in boxes, calling her sister and asking if she could stay with her for awhile.

Calleigh and Chip Sheldon went through every inch of his place after discovering it to have been ransacked. It was obvious that Felix Standford's killer was after the book and was under the assumption that Chip had it.

"Did you tell anyone that you were in possession of the book?" Calleigh asked, sifting through the pile of books on the floor for prints.

"No. Not a soul. Except for Felix. He recommended the book to me." Chip mumbled, gazing around the room with a gloomy expression.

"He…advised you to purchase it?" Calleigh asked. Chip nodded.

"I think he was deliberately trying to get rid of it." She murmured.

She went back to the lab and examined the book that Chip Sheldon had given them. Earth, Air, Fire, Water.

She looked through the book and found the money spell on page twenty. Curiosity caused her to browse through the rest of it as well.

Halfway through the book, Calleigh found the pages had been ripped out in order to house a tiny plastic bag of what looked to be diamonds.

The prints on the diamonds matched a few of the items used to murder Felix Standford, namely the handcuffs and leather straps. They belonged to an ex-girlfriend of his.

"So the money spell really worked???" Chip asked incredulously. Calleigh shrugged.

"In a way, I suppose it did. But unfortunately, those diamonds don't belong to you. They've been confiscated by the Miami Dade Police Department." She murmured.

Rita Burgess admitted to the murder of Felix Standford over the matter of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds, and in the end, it seemed that the diamonds, as well as the book itself, would belong to no one.

Horatio walked down the hallway of the Miami Dade Crime Lab, noticing someone waiting for him near the entrance.

Keats turned and was suddenly face to face with Lt. Caine. Her new boss.

"Are you ready for a promotion of sorts?" Horatio said with a small smile. Keats laughed softly, nodding her head in agreement.

"If you're willing to hire me." She said, her eyes lit up with excitement.

Horatio Caine held her hand, slipping something small and cold into her palm. Keats flipped it over and stared at the object with nervousness and pride.

It was her official police badge.

"Welcome to the Lab, CSI Remington."

This part of the story ends here. Keats has finished her training and internship, so when I continue, it will be fresh and different. Hopefully more enjoyable since Keats will have more freedom as a Level 1 CSI. Again, thank you for reading and perhaps I'll see you in the continuing saga of CSI Miami. :) lol