MIAMI : THREE YEARS AGO
Calleigh looked up and smiled when Ryan came into the room.
"Welcome back, Ryan."
"Thanks. Anything interesting to start on?"
"Sure!" She turned and picked up a twelve inch by twelve-inch box and sat it on the edge of the table. Whatever was inside rattled like cornflakes.
"What's this?"
"We had a multiple gang shooting. These are all the spent rounds mixed with some bullets. You can run all of them through IBIS for me."
Ryan looked up at her. "How many are there?"
"I stopped counting at three hundred. Have fun."
Ryan sighed, looking at the box.
"Ryan," the receptionist said as she walked in. He turned, looking at the long envelope she held out to him. "This came for you this morning."
"Thank you." He took it and she left. Ryan tore it open, pulling the card inside out.
"What is it?"
"Congratulations on your employment." Ryan opened the card and two tickets fell out. He picked them up, looking at them. "I think this is for someone else."
"What is it?" Calleigh joined him, reading the tickets over his shoulder. "Lower prime tickets to the Miami Dolphins. Those things cost a fortune!" Ryan opened the card, letting her read it. "Welcome back, Ryan. I look forward to seeing you in the field. Me. Who is Me?"
Ryan shook his head. "I have no idea."
Calleigh looked at the tickets. "You know… After everything that's happened, maybe you should take this Horatio."
Ryan didn't answer. She frowned at him.
"You haven't even said 'hi' this morning, have you?"
"Not really sure how."
"You walk up to him and say 'hi.'"
Ryan frowned at her.
She smiled, patting his shoulder. "Okay. How about, instead, you take this to him so this doesn't come back to haunt you, and see how the conversation plays out. The bullets can wait."
Ryan slipped the tickets and card back in the envelope. "I'll be back for them."
Ryan left the lab, seeing Natalia down the hall. The two slowed to a stop.
"Good to see you back," she told him.
"Thanks. How's the practice coming?"
"Good. More target hits than misses these days."
He smiled. "Good thing. I'll catch you later."
She nodded and he continued on to Horatio's office, finding him reading a case file. Moving just his eyes, his boss looked up at Ryan as he entered.
"Mister Wolfe," Horatio said.
"Morning, H."
Horatio put the file aside and sat back in his chair.
"Ready for work?"
"Yeah. Calleigh already has something for me." Ryan held up the card. "This came for me." Ryan handed it over to Horatio. "I don't know who sent it."
Horatio opened the card and read it, then looked at the tickets. He sat them both down on his desk.
"Simply signed Me. Thank you for bringing this to me. I'll have Eric run them for prints and see if he can come up with anything."
"Thank you."
"Better get back to Calleigh."
"Yeah." Ryan walked to the door, and then stopped. "Hey, uhm, thanks for helping me get back on."
"You're welcome."
Ryan gave him a smile and left as Eric was coming in.
"Welcome back," Eric said in passing.
"Thanks."
Eric came into Horatio's office. "Finished with the B&E evidence. It was the husband staging it to look like a B&E, all for insurance."
"Good work Eric." Horatio motioned to the card, envelope and tickets. "Do you have gloves on you, Eric?"
He pulled a pair from his hip pocket and put them on.
"Another death threat?" Eric asked.
"On the contrary. This one is welcoming Ryan back to his job, with some very expensive Dolphin tickets."
"Are you going to tell him about the death threats?"
"They weren't aimed at him, Eric. They were aimed at us."
"Yeah, but the sender was threatening us if he didn't get his job back. Don't you think he should know?"
"We don't know for sure if it's directly linked to him."
"The writer said if we didn't get him back on the job we were going to die. I'd call that linked."
"The evidence hasn't proven one yet, has it?"
"No. Guess not."
"Alright. Then until there's a connection, Ryan doesn't need to know about the threats. See what you can find out."
Eric nodded. "I'll give you answers in a few hours." He left with the items
Horatio opened his bottom desk drawer and pulled out an evidence box. He opened it, revealing dozens of letters addressed to the various CSI. Horatio took one off the top addressed to him and opened it, re-reading it: If you don't reinstate Ryan Wolfe by the end of the month, I will make sure your son dies.
Horatio was concerned by how personal the letters had gotten. This person knew every detail about their lives, and hadn't started attacking them until Horatio had suspended Ryan. He suspected this person was stalking Ryan, but without any conclusive evidence, he didn't want to say anything. Ryan had just come back and this was the last thing he needed to worry about.