Disclaimer: I don't own CSI Miami. Big surprise. Oh, by the way, the song later on is Three Days Grace's "I Hate Everything About You."
A/N: --cries-- This chapter makes me sad. -.-
Chapter 22:
Traffic had been a tremendous problem. An accident on the thruway had held them up, making them an hour and a half behind schedule.
Detective Tripp was standing outside the apartment room taking a statement from the landlord and a couple of neighbors. They were for the most part complaining about the atrocious smell seeping out the door and into the hallway. A quick sweep through the Litano residence revealed a dead body in the kitchen; other than that, it was clear. The officers exiting the sweep, though, were green from the stench and heat and so when the lieutenant and coroner were given clearance to enter, the detective passed up his chance with a laugh.
"Heck, no, Horatio. I'll wait outside. You paged Eric and Natalia?"
The daytime shift's head crime scene investigator wore an amused look. "That I did. Let them know, Frank, room 706. And make sure no one else enters."
"That's not going to be a problem."
Horatio nodded, wearing the same expression as before, and walked through the open door with his coroner. They both winced at the stomach-churning smell and felt the impact of the heat.
"Alexx, shut that off." He was referring to the thermostat. I'll make a note that it was on upon entry.
"Sure, Horatio. Why would someone put the heat on? It doesn't make sense."
"Murder, Alexx, murder never makes sense."
They finally took notice of the blood smeared trail. "Drag marks."
"Horatio?"
"The killer didn't take the means to clean up after his mess."
"Mmhmm…always to our benefit." She went over to kitchen to process the body. This smell is making me queasy. She couldn't wait to leave and get some fresh air.
"Alexx, what do we have?" The ginger-haired man strolled into the kitchen with his back toward the cabinets, while simultaneously taking off his shades. If the stench bothered him, he wasn't whining. It was his job to protect the innocent, so that was what he would do, even if it meant being in the most undesirable of positions.
"This killer was either aiming for the heart and missed, or he wanted a lot of blood to come out." She gazed at the young man thoughtfully. "What did you do to deserve this, honey?"
"Alexx, the more blood, the more putrid it gets."
"Is that why the thermostat is so high?"
"Most likely. COD is-"
"Two shots to the chest, one to the neck. I'll know more back at the post, but I believe that this man bled to death."
"Any ID Alexx?"
"Nope. He was clean. I'll call down for a gurney to be sent up."
A flurry of movement caught her eye and before she had time to react or, better yet, yell out and warn her boss, he was knocked to the ground, unconscious. Oh my God… She had never seen the lieutenant be brought down before. In a shocked and strangled voice, she cried, "Please! I have two chil-" Darkness clouded her vision as she fell to her side.
"Are you sure you don't want to take some tostadas or croquetas for the road?" His mother was always worried that her son didn't eat enough. She wanted him to be big and meaty and when she saw those two children… I'll just keep feeding them…nonstop. They're too skinny; they look sick!
"Mamí, we'll be home later." Natalia colored slightly at his declaration. We…not I. "Can you just watch Jem and Ella until then?"
"Of course, but Papí will be home later, and you better have a good explanation on what's going on. I know a pregnant woman when I see one. Did you two elope?"
Now, Natalia was fully blushing. She could feel the heat even at the tips of her ears and the back of her neck. She could tell? Uh-oh.
He coughed. "Mamí, we didn't elope. I'll-we'll explain everything. Later, though. Promise."
"Tsktsk. You know one day, you're going to need to settle down and have a nice big family."
"I know, Mamí."
"Ella es perfecta." His mother was eyeing the woman standing next to him.
"Mamí." His tone was one of clear embarrassment.
"I know, I know. You two must go and work. I'll take care of los niños. I'll actually feed them."
He laughed, his whole face lighting up. Her idea of skinny is if they're NOT jiggly. "Gracias, Mamí." He and his mother kissed one another's cheeks and he began to walk towards the Hummer, awaiting Natalia to follow.
"Oi, mi hijo. He can be so stubborn sometimes. Here take these." His mother handed the young woman a doggie bag of tostadas and croquetas and even some of her famous bread and milk pudding.
"Oh," she presented the elder woman with a big smile, "thank you, Mrs. Delko."
"Please, Eric must consider you familia. Call me, mamí."
"Um, okay."
She kissed both the pregnant woman's cheeks as a farewell. "Now take good care of my son. We're all going to have a big talk tonight."
"Heh. Alright." Oh my. She went to meet Eric by the car, but instead they were attacked by their two children.
"Daddy! Mommy! Where're you guys going?" Ella clung onto her father's leg, while her brother became attached to his mother's side.
Her father, much to her excitement, scooped up his daughter into his arms. "Mommy and daddy have to go to work, but we'll see you later, okay? Your abuela's gonna take good care of you."
"I know." She slid down out of his grasp and hugged his leg, taking care not to squash her fuzzy stuffed animal. "Bye-bye daddy!" She ran over to her mother and hugged her. "Bye-bye mommy!"
"Bye sweetheart." She gently smoothed out her daughter's long hair. "Be good to your grandma."
"I will!"
The eight-year old boy said a quick good-bye to his parents. Eric placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "You're gonna watch out for your sister?"
"Yeah." He refrained himself from saying, 'Duh.'
"Okay, good. We'll see you two later okay?"
When he didn't answer, they began to get into the Hummer. "Daddy?"
"What's up, Jem?"
"Can we go home today?"
"You remember what Mommy said?"
"Yeah."
"So, it'll be a while. We might have to stay here for a night, so that my-our apartment can air out a little."
"Oh." The eight-year old felt guilty for he and his sister's early morning actions.
"I'll see you later?" He grinned at his son.
"See ya later, daddy!"
The two CSIs waved to his mother and their two children, who were waving avidly. Once they had driven for a bit, Eric turned to Natalia. "You told H to page us if there was a crime scene?"
It startled her a bit how angry his tone was. She went into a slight defensive mode. "Of course I did. I want to know what's going on."
"You said so yourself, you have no idea what he's capable of!"
"That's doesn't change the fact that I need to know the truth…I need closure…"
"At the cost of your life? The baby's life?" He was thinking about the Jack-in-the-box from earlier that morning. I never rechecked to see if that really happened…or just a horrible nightmare…
She was so angry and frustrated that she really wanted to smack him. How dare he? This is difficult for me… I wouldn't dare risk my baby's life over something this trivial… Suddenly she felt light-headed and her stomach was doing flips. Or is that the baby kicking? "Pull over," she muttered weakly.
"What?" Oh crud, not again. He instantly pulled over onto the side of the road and ran out to help her exit the car, but she pushed him away. She staggered to the side rail and leaned against it, feeling its coolness through her clothes. Slowly, she began to feel her morning breakfast come up.
While she retched, he affectionately held back her long chestnut brown hair; a gesture that she, at first, rejected, but quickly came to accept. When she was merely taking deep breaths and using the side rail for support, he went into the Hummer to retrieve a water bottle. She rinsed her mouth and drank it gratefully, and together they reentered the vehicle.
There was silence the whole way to the crime scene. To his relief, her complexion had returned back to its normal glowing state. She's worth it though…even with all the scares…now, if only I could properly express that to her without further disturbing her.
Alternatively, she was thinking about the night before. I had such a weird dream last night…I mean Eric answered my question and he said…he said that he was doing everything because…he loved me… She sighed internally. Well, I guess that's why it's called a dream.
"What took you two so long?" The Texan detective seemed slightly irritated at the two CSIs tardiness.
"Frank," teased the male CSI with a wide grin, "you've got to learn to be more patient."
"Hah." The older man saw the CSI as a troublesome teenager. "Horatio's been waiting for you guys to come up."
"Lemme guess. The smell of decomposition got to you?" His superior just gave him a hard look.
Natalia popped open the trunk of the Hummer to retrieve the two processing kits. Eric ran over to take them from her. "Here, let me help you." She smirked and gave him one of the kits.
"Just because you found out I'm pregnant," she whispered, "doesn't mean that suddenly I can't do my job."
"I never said that you couldn't," he whispered back.
"Then, get out of my way." She grinned as she slipped past him and strolled over towards the impatiently waiting detective. He stood shocked for a moment, but with a grin that spread from ear to ear, he closed the trunk and made his way over. I really do love her…
"I think I'll just stay out here." The two CSIs laughed. Typical. "Holler out if you two need something."
Eric grinned. "Will do, Frank. Did you hear anything from Alexx or Horatio?"
"Naw…I assume that they're waiting for you."
"OK, later." The detective nodded as the two colleagues entered Room 706.
The nauseating odor nearly knocked them off their feet. Natalia was taking it slightly worse since she was still getting over the effects of morning sickness. This can't be good for the baby…
They had walked no further than a couple of steps, when Eric pointed out the bloody drag marks with a yellow evidential marker rested next to it. Natalia bent down and positioned the camera so that she could get photos of the impressions with a point of reference.
The two of them frowned; it was beginning to dawn on them just how quiet the crime scene was. Eric called out,"Hey H, you in here?" When there was no response, Natalia told Eric that she would just take the room to her right.
"What, the living room?"
"Yeah. I'll just check it out and start processing." Seeing his hesitation, she tried her best not to roll her eyes. "Remember what I said before about how just because I'm pregnant-"
"-doesn't mean that you're incapable of doing your job," he finished for her. "Yeah. I remember."
"So?"
"So, I'll take the other room."
"OK." She smiled warmly. "Don't worry so much."
Eric laughed. "Yeah. Well, that goes both ways you know."
"Hmm…" She playfully shoved him. "Just go and process."
He laughed, throwing up his hands in mock defense. "I am. I am."
With a minor case of the giggles, she walked into the living room while he went over towards what would lead to the kitchen.
As he entered the kitchen, he took note that the offensive odor was coming from the dead body. This guy must have been dragged into here…where's Alexx? He froze in his tracks. Whoa. Wait. Is that…
Stuffed against a corner of the room were who the unconscious bodies of his boss and the day shift's medical examiner. At least, he hoped they were unconscious. They can't be…they're not…I gotta call Tripp and-
"I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU WHY DO I…"
He whipped around as the extremely loud rock music blasted from the room that Natalia had just stepped into.
What the…? He tried to comprehend what was going on, when he caught a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. He had no time to react and could barely defend himself as something cool and hard made continuous contact to his head and body, bringing him quickly to the ground. The perpetrator had had the element of surprise and Eric hadn't even had the luxury of time to pull out his gun. Despite the inconveniences, he still tried his best to fight back.
He tried to focus. That guy…he looks familiar…I think… The loud rock music that pursued made it difficult to concentrate.
He thought he heard sound of gunshots, but there was a warm metallic taste in his mouth and he had gone almost completely numb from the pain that just didn't care anymore. The only thought on his mind before darkness overtook it was concern regarding the safety of his other half. Natalia.
A/N: Gulp. -.-;; Thoughts?
Spanish- English translations:
Ella es perfecta- She is perfect.
los niños- the children