A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated, but to be frank, I didn't see a reason for doing so. I got quite a lot of mails concerning story alerts, which is really nice, but no reviews at all and this caused me to ask myself why people seem to like the story but won't review at all.

I'm going to update this story today because a few days ago, I got anonymous reviews by "dollydarwloo" who asked me to update the story. Thank you for your reviews by the way.

Enjoy..

Chapter 9

Time was passing by painfully slow and Frank hated it. With every minute that they were sitting here inactively, his mood became worse and a quick side glance told him, that Horatio was feeling the same. They'd been sitting here for over an hour already, hoping to find something out useful from Jack Miller, but to no avail. Except of his personal data and similar things, they had found out nothing.

The fact that Miller had asked for his attorney hadn't surprised them at all, but waiting for the person had cost them precious time in finding the little girl. And this was the main thing that was straining Frank's nerves, since he knew only too well that with every minute that passed by, the chances to find the girl alive got smaller.

Sadly, it didn't look like there would be a chance in the near future, since the attorney had advised his client to refuse to give evidence. Only due to their long lasting experience they had found a bit more that the attorney had wanted to by asking tricky questions, but most of the time he had stopped Miller from saying something stupid; much to Frank's and Horatio's dismay.

Hoping to stay calm, Frank tapped with his fingers on the table top. Sitting around and doing nothing was definitely not his thing.

Horatio's apparently calm act was starting to crumble more and more. His suspicion that time was working against them was confirmed by Frank's tapping, but his hands were tied. As long as Miller wouldn't make a mistake in telling something to incriminate himself, there was nothing they could do.

Horatio had racked his brain over and over again to find something that would help them, but it seemed like lady luck wasn't on his side today. Morose, he folded his hands together, eyed Miller and hoped to get him to talk with his glare.

A couple of minutes went by awfully slow and Horatio had to keep himself together or he would raise his voice and shout at Miller to make him talk and tell them about the girl. "Mr. Miller..," he started again in hope to break through to the man, his voice calm and his chosen words polite as always. "Think about the consequences of your acting. Doing nothing won't help you. Quite the opposite. It can and will be used to your disadvantage."

He would have loved to stand up grabbing the guy and showing him that he didn't like to be played with, but this would have been wrong and against the law. It was seriously tempting though. Sighing, he leaned back and hoped for a wonder. And there it was.

Valera had done her very best to analyze the blood evidence as quickly as possible and was now running through the halls in direction of the interrogation room. Stopping there, she took a moment to compose herself and knocked on the glass door.

The heads of all four men in the room turned towards the noise and Horatio sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening. "DearGod,letherhavegoodnews."

"Horatio?" Valera opened the door slowly and immediately felt the tension in the room. "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course," he readily replied and stood up. "Excuse me," he said politely and got a nod from the attorney in return.

"I guess it's time for us to leave as well, if you don't have anything more against my client other than the pointless questions and theories we've heard for the last hour."

Frank eyed the attorney, Troy McClure, and shot him a death glare. Oh how he hated these smoothies. "I'm sure your client can wait another minute until the Lieutenant is back again," he snorted and took a sip of his water.

McClure shot him a glare in response and rolled his eyes. "A minute, nothing more."

Outside the room, Horatio and Valera had made a few steps to the side, so the others couldn't see them. "Valera, please tell me that these are the blood results of our latest crime scene."

Smiling, she held out the paper for him. "They are, Horatio and I'm sure that you'll like what you see."

Crocking an eyebrow at her, he reached for the file and let his eyes wander over the results of the comparison between the two victims, Mr. and Mrs. Fitch and the blood they'd found on Miller's shoes. "Are those accurate?"

Nodding, she rocked her heels back and forth. "Absolutely. Angela and I did the analysis the same time and she had the same results." Noticing his look, she gave him another shy smile. "We knew that you needed to be 100% sure, so we decided to make two analyses."

For the first time this day, there was something like a smirk on his face. "You know me too well," he said and folded the file up. "Thank you both for your hard work, this here will help us immensely."

"You're more than welcome," she replied proudly of his praise. "Get the guy."

"We will Maxine, we will," he nodded and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment while walking past her. Now they had hard evidence against Jack Miller and there was no way that he would let him slip through his fingers.

When he entered the interrogation room again, the attorney stood up and nodded at him. "Ah Lieutenant, as I already told Det. Tripp, it's time for us to go now. It was really nice sitting here in an air conditioned-room and drinking your fine water, but we have other things to do." Looking at his client, he nodded and motioned him to get up as well. "Mr. Miller…"

"Not so fast, Mr. McClure," Horatio replied coldly and pointed to their seats. "Please sit down."

"No we won't, Lieutenant. We've had enough of this farce and the only thing you do is stealing my client's time. There's nothing to talk about and that's why we're leaving now."

"And again I ask you to sit down," Horatio replied sternly and walked to his own seat, but didn't sit down. "If your client won't talk, we will. And believe me, I don't need him to talk at all, because the evidence speaks for itself." With that, he opened the case file and took out a photo from the crime scene with the two bloody bodies on it.

"That's disgusting," Jack pulled a face.

"It is, isn't it?" Horatio raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Ever seen that before?" Horatio ignored his question.

"Of course not," he exclaimed. "I already told you that I have nothing to do with the murder and that my finger prints had been in the house because I helped with the entertainment system."

"Sure you don't," Horatio couldn't help but snort and grabbed another piece of paper. "Then please explain me why we found Mr. and Mrs. Fitch's blood on the sole of your shoes."

Frank couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction. Now it was time to play by their rules and he loved it.

For a moment, Miller's eyes went wide, but he quickly composed himself and leaned back, though it was obvious that he was nervous. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Frank asked sarcastically and raised his eyebrows.

"Well then I'll explain it to you," Horatio interfered and took out the papers with the results of the blood comparisons. Slowly he laid them out in front of Miller and his attorney. "Do you see those? Those are the DNA analyses of Mr. and Mrs Fitch, our victims. And here," he pointed at the other blood sample, "here we have the analysis of the blood we found on the soles of your shoes. And in case you forgot what shoes I'm talking about," he smirked and showed him a picture of them, "here they are."

McClure took a quick look at the results and knew that this was going to be a tough case. He'd been an attorney for quite some time now and this looked very bad for his client and therefore for his white vest. "So if you have this evidence against my client, then why are we sitting here?"

"Because this is not only about the Fitch's, right Mr. Miller? It's about something or should I rather say someoneelse?"

Confused, McClure looked between Horatio and his client. "What are they talking about, Jack?"

Miller just snorted and put up a rather weak self-assured appearance. "I won't say anything."

"Well it's our pleasure to fill in your attorney, Mr. Miller," Frank said with a smile. "This whole tragedy just happened because they got in your way, huh? Because they fought for their most precious gift – their granddaughter. What happened Miller? Did you think that everyone was already asleep? That you could easily walk into the house and steal her away? And when you entered the house, they were still awake, weren't they? Sitting in the living-room, watching TV or doing something else?"

"And they noticed you, didn't they? Asked you what you were doing in the house?" Horatio chimed in. "But having no excuse for your behaviour, you panicked and it went downhill from then on. You killed them and afterwards kidnapped your goal – Molly."

"Molly?" McClure asked and had no idea what he had gotten into.

"Yes; Molly Bolt. Her parents are out of town, that's why her grandparents had baby sit her. And now she's vanished. And that's what makes me asking you Mr. Miller, where is she?"

"Whoa, hold your horses! Who says that this Molly isn't with her parents at the moment?"

"Because Mr. McClure, we've talked to the parents just before you arrived here and they assured us, that Molly had stayed at home with her grandparents."

"Plus," Horatio added, "her bed was unmade when we investigated the crime scene. Just like someone had slept in it only a few hours before, but didn't have the time to make it."

McClure just sighed and nodded. This was getting more and more confusing. "Can I have a minute alone with my client?" He needed to find out what he was dealing with. A murder? Or a murder and a kidnapping? Homicide? This case was bigger than he had thought at the beginning.

Horatio and Frank shared a look. Normally they wouldn't agree, but then again, there was the slight chance that the attorney could make his client talk. And right now everything that was important was Molly and her wellbeing. So if a few minutes alone for them in private helped them to find the girl, they would readily agree.

"Five minutes, Mr. McClure, that's all we can give you," Frank nodded and stood up from his chair.

"Thank you," he replied and just waited until the two policemen had left the room, before he started to ask his questions. "Jack, what the heck is going on here?"

Outside of the room, Horatio and Frank were leaning against the glass, observing the actions inside.

"Do you think that he will make him talk?"

"I hope so Frank. We already have him for murder or at least homicide, but that's not important at the moment. Molly is."

Nodding, Frank agreed wholeheartedly. "Do you think she's still alive?"

Horatio just shrugged. "My gut feeling is telling me yes, but you never know when it comes to such creeps. I guess she's hidden somewhere, waiting that he comes back. He probably wanted to see if we suspect him and that's why he was at home and bummed around the crime scene. If we hadn't noticed the blood, he would have felt confident and taken his time with Molly." Even thinking about it made him feel like puking. Those creeps were disgusting.

"Let's hope that he didn't have the chance to do that," Frank said and felt the sudden urge to slam his fist in Miller's face. "Well at least they have a lively conversation," he smirked and nodded towards the two men.

"Yeah, let's hope that he can convince him to talk. He'll probably ask for a deal."

"Do we agree with that?" Frank despised deals, especially when the case was crystal clear.

"I don't know, actually it's not really our decision, now is it?" he asked. "In the very end, it's the prosecutor's decision."

"True, but we can still agree with it and most of the time the prosecutor agrees with us."

"Mhm," Horatio mumbled and grabbed the door handle. "But don't let us cross bridges before we come to them. Shall we?"

"We shall," Frank nodded and walked into the room, Horatio closing the door behind him. "So did you two come to a result?"

McClure looked at his client, who didn't look like he was going to answer the question, so he decided to do it himself. "We want a deal."

"A deal?" Horatio smiled knowingly. It was just like he had imagined. "And what for? As you told us only minutes ago, we already know that he murdered the grandparents." Two could play this game and he was very good at playing.

McClure had been waiting for this particular answer, but he did have an ace up his sleeve. "But you want to find out where the girl is and my client is the only one who knows that."

Horatio gave him a slight nod. "I'm listening."

"The deal will look like this," he started and leaned a bit forward. "My client swears that he hadn't intended to kill the other two people, but only kidnapping the child. We want you to agree with the fact that it was homicide and not cold blooded murder."

"Well that's sounds nice…. For your client, but what's our advantage?" Frank interjected.

"In return he will give you the place where you can find the child."

Horatio and Frank shared a look and leaned back. "Well then, tell us," Frank prompted, which made McClure laugh.

"Surely not, first the deal, then the address." He was also good in playing games.

Frank just sighed and nodded. It would have been too easy then. "Alright, I need to talk to the prosecutor first."

"You do that then," McClure nodded and watched Frank getting up, while Lt. Caine remained seated.

"You come with me, Horatio?" Frank wondered and had expected the redhead to follow him.

"No, I think you can easily do that on your own," he shook his head and eyed Miller, who hadn't said a word since they had entered the room.

"As you wish," Frank chuckled and left the room. Too bad, he hated talking to the prosecutor and wouldn't have minded to leave this special task to his colleague. Maybe next time.

Once Frank had left the room, Horatio crossed his arms and smiled at the other men. "Want something to drink?" he asked politely, because it could take some time until Frank would be back.

"What about some-" McClure started, but was interrupted by his cell phone. Annoyed, he looked at the display and noticed that it was the number of a very important client. "Sorry, but I need to take this."

"No problem, but not here and not on this floor," Horatio calmly replied and couldn't believe his luck.

"What? Why?"

"It's the department rule," he shrugged.

"I've never heard of this before," McClure exclaimed and eyed the redhead.

"It's new. Since this month. Guess it has something to do with cell phone radiating and all the electronic around here." Of course this was a complete lie, but he needed the attorney somewhere else, so he could put his plan into action.

Torn between staying here and missing the important call or leaving his client here alone, McClure sighed. "Okay, but there's no way that he will signature a deal I haven't approved, you know that Lt."

"Of course, Sir," he replied politely. "We will wait for you."

"Good," he nodded and looked at his client. "Don't say anything about the place. Just stay quiet. It won't take long." And with that he also left the room and the two remaining men alone.

After a couple of moments of silence, Horatio got up from his chair and walked the window. Looking out he took a deep breath and smiled to himself. He could feel the nervousness radiating from the other man, probably even fear. This was good, very good for him. "So Mr. Miller, since we're alone now, why don't we talk from man to man," he started and knew that he had the man's complete attention. "Why don't you tell me where she is?"

"No," Miller replied. "My attorney told me not to tell you, so I won't."

"Yes," Horatio chuckled and walked to the glass table. "He told you that, that's true. But he didn't tell you other things."

Miller furrowed his brows. "Other things?" he asked carefully. "What other things?"

"Oh," Horatio said nonchalantly and sat down on the edge of the table, never breaking the eye contact. "For example the fact that there won't be a deal when the girl is dead, but that you will get accused of triple murder, which definitely means the death penalty."

"Death penalty?" Miller asked, his face becoming white.

"Most definitely, yes. They probably will believe you that you didn't want to kill the grandparents, but kidnapping a child, leaving it alone somewhere…" he sighed dramatically, "definitely lead you to the death cell. "So.. is the child somewhere it might die? Maybe because it's too warm and there's no water for her? Or are there wild animals, which can probably kill her?"

"I.. uh.. I'm not sure, I don't know," Miller stammered and wished that his attorney would be back soon.

"Where is she, Jack? Where are you hiding her?" Horatio intermitted the stammering with a stern voice.

"I can't tell you, the deal," the man exclaimed and felt how he started to sweat.

"So you want to die then?"

"No, no I don't want to die. I-"

"Then tell me where she is. Where is she, Jack? Where's Molly?" he asked a bit more forceful.

Miller looked around nervously, his eyes never long on an object. "I can't.. I can't…," he shook his head weakly. "I can't…," he whimpered.

"Damn it, Jack," Horatio growled darkly. "Where is she? It's your life for christ's sake. So either try to keep it or lose it, it's your decision."

He didn't want to lose his life. Dear god he didn't want to lose it. He had murdered two people yes, but he was afraid of his own death. "I…I…have a house..for fishing…near a small lake in the Glades."

Finally! "Give me the address," Horatio ordered and took out a piece of paper.

"It..it doesn't really have one…," Jack whispered, because he didn't want to annoy the redhead even more.

"Good. Get up then," Horatio replied and was fed up with this whole situation.

"Why?" Miller asked confused.

"Get up," Horatio replied harshly and grabbed the man's shoulder to underline his request. "You're going to show me where the house is and you better haven't lied to me about it, or you'll find yourself swimming with some alligators," he threatened and the way he was feeling right now, this could actually happen easily.

"O-okay," Miller got out while he was rudely pulled up from his position. "I didn't.. I didn't lie to you, I promise..," he stammered and followed Horatio outside.

"We will see," was all Horatio said and made his way to the elevators, hoping that they wouldn't run across Frank or, even worse, McClure.

"Are… are you allowed to do that?" Miller asked insecure. "I..I mean take me with you.."

"In contrast to you, yes I'm allowed to take someone with me if it's necessary to safe their life and right now that's what I'm doing," Horatio replied and jammed his fist against the button of the lift. Only a few more seconds and no one could stop them.

"Horatio? What are you doing here?"

Horatio just looked upwards. "AfewmoresecondswasallIwasaskingandyou?" he argued with the big man in heaven and looked like as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "Nothing, just needed to get some fresh air."

Immediately, one eye brow shot up and her hands wandered to her hips. "Fresh air," she repeated his words and didn't believe a single word. "Sure, with a suspect," she pointed at Miller. "Wanna try that again?"

"Calleigh…," he sighed.

"Horatio…," she gave him her best smile.

"Look," he tried again when the door of the lift opened behind them. "I don't have the time to explain things," he continued and grabbed Miller by the arm and pulled him inside the lift.

"Well, you have all the time from here to the parking lot," she told him and quickly slipped inside the cabin before the door closed. "So?"

Horatio just rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. This woman could be more stubborn than he was. Typical southern. "Jack and I are going for a run in the car."

"I see," she nodded and looked between the two men. While Horatio seemed to be quiet relaxed, Miller was definitely nervous. "Any why's that?"

"He wants to show me the place where he's hiding Molly," Horatio answered her and didn't even try to beat around the bush. "That is, if he's telling me the truth," he continued, his tone indicating that Miller better didn't play with him.

Noticing that, the man quickly shook his head. "I told you that I'll show where she is, I promise."

"Mhm," Horatio only mumbled and gave Calleigh a small smile. "Satisfied?"

"Not really. Will you meet with other officers there?" There was no way that Horatio could drive a suspect through the town with no other officers behind.

"Nope," he simply replied. "There's no need for it."

No need? Was he kidding? "Then I'll go with you."

"You won't Cal, that's just between me and Jack here."

"And you know as well as I do that you can't take a suspect with you," she argued back. "Especially not without some back up."

Horatio couldn't help but grin at that. He definitely didn't need any kind of back up. What should Jack try to do? Kill him? Now that would be funny to see. "Cal-" he tried again, but was once again interrupted by her.

"No, Horatio, I mean it. I'll come with you." She knew that he knew that his plan was rather illegal and could cost his head. "You can't keep an eye on both, Jack and the girl."

Jack couldn't help but smile; this woman had balls. "You two are too funny," he laughed, but quickly stopped when he got a double glare and a "Shut up" in response.

Horatio just sighed and shook his head. "Okay, you'll come with us," he finally agreed and knew that there was no other way. Calleigh would follow him anyway and the fact that she was actually right in doing so didn't make it any better.

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Calleigh just grinned and stepped out of the lift when the door opened again. Vampire or not, Horatio couldn't stay mad at a woman for long or not fulfil her wishes, especially when it came to his girlfriend.

tbc