MIAMI : ONE YEAR, ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

Horatio walked into his office finding Ryan sitting in a chair, staring at the stack of cash on his desk.

"Me has been persistent today," Horatio said as he walked up to the arrangement. "This is the sixth delivery isn't it?"

"Yeah. That's ten thousand dollars, H. And you should read the card."

Horatio pulled out the card and read it out loud, "Delko froze at the shooting. You should let your supervisor know. You deserve his position. Consider this a bonus for your last bust."

Horatio folded the card and looked out his office windows. Minutes passed in silence.

"Uhm…" someone said.

The two looked back. The receptionist was holding up a package.

"For Mister Wolfe?" Horatio asked her.

She nodded.

"Ryan, do you have gloves?"

Ryan got up and put on gloves. He took the package from her.

"Take this to Eric?" Ryan asked.

Horatio didn't answer until the receptionist left.

"I think we should talk about this stalker before you go."

"H., I know this is annoying, but I don't know—"

"Ryan, I know you're doing everything you can."

Ryan looked at the package in his hand. "Am I?"

"Yes. I have withheld information that might have helped you. I thought I was helping you, but now I think I was wrong."

Horatio waited for Ryan to look at him. "What information?"

"While you were suspended your stalker sent everyone in the department death threats. I didn't want to tell you until we had some evidence linking the threats with your stalker; which Eric found yesterday. Whoever licked one of the envelopes yesterday was the same female contributor that licked all of the death threat envelopes."

"Are the letters signed Me?"

"They are not."

"H… I'm getting a little scared."

"Perhaps we should consider having a uniform follow you."

Ryan grimaced. "Could we wait one more day on that? So far this person hasn't done anything and… Could we wait one more day?"

"Why is that?"

"It'll be really hard to explain to my date, on our first date, why I have a policeman following me."

Horatio smiled. "So, you finally took up the delivery girl's invitation?"

Ryan smiled, trying not to blush. "She's cute and she's been asking for four months. It's not her fault this psycho keeps sending packages through her company."

Horatio laughed a little. "No it's not. Enjoy your date, but don't let your guard down."

Ryan shook his head. "I won't. See you in the morning."

Horatio nodded his head once, watching him leave.

Ryan stopped in front of an apartment building and got out. He opened the passenger door for his date, Chrissie, and she climbed out.

"Do you want to come up?" she asked, motioning toward the apartment building.

Ryan hesitated. The evening had been pleasant, but there hadn't been a spark. Ryan sensed she was hiding something and although she was attractive, he wasn't prepared to deal with a woman carrying 'luggage.'

He glanced at the card pulling up in front of his. The trunk popped and the driver turned, doing something.

"I'd better just go home."

"Oh." She looked up at her building. "Well, would you mind at least walking me to my door?"

"That I can do."

The two headed to the front gate. She pushed it open and went up the stairs. Ryan followed behind her and she stopped at the first door. Chrissie fished for her keys in her purse.

"I should get a smaller purse," she joked.

Ryan looked back when he heard someone coming and watched a man come through the gate. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to light a cigarette. Ryan looked back when he heard Chrissie's keys drop onto the walkway. He reached down, picking them up for her. Ryan looked up into the barrel of a gun, and then into Chrissie's eyes. She smiled.

"I don't really live here," Chrissie said, "And don't say anything, okay? Cause, well, then I'd have to shoot the first person that tried to help you."

"Who are you?" Ryan demanded.

"Me, my pet."

Ryan started to say ask her name again, when he realized she just told him, and it made his stomach turn into a cold, tight knot. She was his stalker? She had been under his nose this whole time?

"What do you want?"

"You. Now let's go back downstairs quietly."

Ryan's hand moved toward the gun concealed under his sports jacket.

"You don't want to do that. Jerry has a short temper."

Cigarette smoke wafted over Ryan's shoulder and he realized the man that had come through the gate was standing behind him now. He slowly turned, facing Jerry. He moved back, making way for Ryan to go down the stairs, and then rested his hand on his own gun in a shoulder holster.

Ryan moved slowly down the stairs, keeping his eye on Chrissie. Jerry followed behind her, unconcerned. They reached the gate and he saw a car with a trunk open. He had to try to run now, or he may never get out of this alive.

In a burst, Ryan bolted. To his surprise, Jerry easily caught up with him. The man tackled Ryan in the middle of the street. Ryan turned, swinging a punch. Jerry dodged it, and then shoved a damp cloth over Ryan's nose and mouth. He caught Ryan's arm in a painful, pinching grip.

A sharp alcohol smell filled his nose that Ryan immediately recognized as ether. He tried to push Jerry's hand and the cloth off before the vapors knocked him unconscious. But it was a loosing fight that ended quickly. Jerry stood when Ryan lay motionless, flicking ashes off his cigarette. He tossed the cloth and then lifted Ryan over his shoulder. Jerry walked back to the car and dropped him in the trunk. He stopped when Chrissie leaned into the trunk to kiss Ryan's lips. She giggled, prancing back. Jerry smiled a little, getting in. She hopped into the car and slid up to him.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she said, kissing his cheek.

"Mm-hm. Let me go so I can drive, Chris."

She slid back to her side of the car, staring at the back where Ryan was now hidden.

Horatio was speaking to an officer when Calleigh came up. She smiled at the officer and waited until he left.

"Yes?" Horatio asked.

"Ryan's late, Horatio."

Horatio looked at his watch. "Have you called him?"

"I've tried his cell and his home phone. Natalia stopped at his apartment on her way a call and he didn't answer. His neighbor was Ryan was supposed to pick up his dog last night at eleven. He never showed."

"Was she able to get into his apartment?"

"Yes. He wasn't there."

"Okay. We need to find his car. He said last night he was going on a date with the On Time Delivery girl. We need to find her and see if she can tell us when she last saw him."

"There also hasn't been one delivery from his stalker this morning."

That lifted Horatio's eyebrow. "That is a bad sign."

"I'll let you know what I find out." Calleigh turned and hurried off.

Horatio pulled his cell phone off and dialed Eric.

"Delko," Eric answered.

"Eric, Ryan may be missing. I want you to go to On Time Delivery and see if you can speak to the delivery girl that bringing Ryan's packages."

"I'm on my way."

Horatio hung up, looking out a nearby window. His instincts told him they were about to have a nightmare of a case.

Eric walked into the office of On Time Delivery and the woman behind the counter smiled. Eric smiled as he showed her his badge.

"I need to speak to one of your delivery girls. I know her first name is Chrissie, she has long brown hair, and—"

"She was fired yesterday," the woman told him.

"Fired?"

"Yeah. She was billing client accounts for personal packages she was delivering to her boyfriend." She motioned at his badge. "Some guy that worked with you."

Eric's smile faded. "Did she ever mention his name?"

"Yeah. Ryan."

Eric was already starting to see all the clues they had overlooked coming together.

"Did she say how long they'd been together?"

"She said for at least two years. I guess they met when he pulled her over for speeding and hit it off. She was all ga-ga for him."

"Was she?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"I need her address."

The woman hesitated. "I don't know if I'm supposed to give that out."

"She kidnapped Ryan last night. So if you need to get your supervisor to release her address, go."

The girl hurried off to find her supervisor. Eric dialed Horatio.

"H., the delivery girl, Chrissie, she was telling people here they'd been dating and she was sending him the packages."

"Are you getting her address?"

"Yeah." Eric saw the girl coming back with her supervisor. "I'll call you when I have it." Eric hung up so he could talk to the supervisor.