Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:Miami or CSI:NY in any shape or form – I will put them back after borrowing them for a while.
a/n: This will be a one shot – I don't usually write these types of stories and warning: mentions of torture – if you don't like reading about torture – don't read.
Chapter Two
One Year Later – NYC Bellevue Hospice:
"Good morning Zelda," said Detective Mac Taylor, as he entered a private room in Bellevue Hospice.
"Hi Mac," whispered Izelda Valdez, a frail woman with short, grey hair and dark sunglasses, despite the shadowed room.
Mac's keen gaze took in his friend's frail appearance and the oxygen mask. "How are you feeling today?"
"The same as always. What's the weather like outside?"
"It is quite mild today, but the colored leaves are almost all gone."
"You look tired, are you still suffering from jet lag?"
"No, I'm still getting those phone calls," Mac ruefully confessed.
"You still haven't found out who it is?" Zelda said, before coughing, deep hacking coughs.
Mac reached for a glass of water and held it so Zelda could sip some water thru the straw, easing her dry throat. "Okay now?"
Zelda nodded, relaxing against her pillows.
"You're talking too much," Mac chided. Zelda nodded and then gestured to her dresser. "What do you need?" Mac stood up from his chair.
"Address book," whispered Zelda.
Mac rummaged thru the contents of the top drawer of the dresser and held up a green book. "This?"
Zelda nodded and Mac placed the book in her hand, and watched as she flipped thru the pages until she found the right page. Zelda showed Mac the business card that was taped to the page.
"Lt. Horatio Caine, MDPD CSI," Mac read aloud. "Do you want me to call Lt. Caine for you?"
"Yes."
"How do you know Horatio?"
"Met him last year in Miami," whispered Zelda.
"What should I tell him when he asks why you want to talk to him?"
"Murder."
"Lisa's murder?"
"No, someone else's murder."
"Are you a witness?"
Zelda shrugged, declining to answer.
"Do you want me to explain to Horatio about your health?"
"If you want," Zelda shrugged in reply.
Back in the lab located on the 35th floor, Mac pondered over Zelda's request, before reaching for the phone and dialling a familiar number.
"Caine."
"Good morning Horatio."
"Mac Taylor, how is crime in the Big Apple?"
"Never stops," Mac chuckled.
"And why are you calling Miami? Another Henry Darius?"
"I'm called for a friend of mine, she says that she needs to talk to you."
"Do I know this friend?"
"Zelda says that she met you last year in Miami."
"I don't recall meeting a Zelda."
"Sorry, I should have said Izelda Valdez."
"Mm-hmm, I do remember Miss Valdez, a woman with short grey hair, dark sunglasses and walked with a cane."
"That's Zelda."
"If it's regards to the status of her sister's case, you can inform Miss Valdez that there still have been no arrests."
"She says that it is regarding another murder."
"Did she say whose murder?"
"No, she didn't."
"So when will Miss Valdez be arriving? I can arrange to meet with her."
"Horatio, you will need to come to Manhattan. Zelda is unable to travel."
"Is she ill?"
"She is dying from lung cancer," Mac explained quietly.
"I am sorry to hear that. Do the doctors know how much time she has?"
"It could be anytime now."
"Hmm, I will look at my schedule and get back to you with my travel arrangements."
The next day Mac picked Horatio up at La Guardia airport and drove him to Bellevue Hospice where Zelda was staying. Horatio and Mac walked into Zelda's room after knocking quietly at the door.
"Good afternoon Zelda, you remember Lt. Horatio Caine from Miami?"
"Hi Mac," Zelda whispered. "Thank you for coming Lt. Caine."
"Mac informed me that you wanted to speak to me," Horatio was shocked to see how frail Zelda was.
"Yes I did, and I need to do it before it is too late, Lt. Caine."
"Please call me Horatio, Miss Valdez."
"Only if you call me Zelda." Zelda whispered before sipping on some water. "I need to talk to you about a murder."
"Jeffrey Douglas's murder," replied Horatio.
"Yes, I need to confess to his murder."
"You mean to want to confess to hiring someone to kill Mr. Douglas?"
"No, I mean that I killed Lisa's fiancé."
Horatio's eyebrows rose in surprise, while Mac's face registered shock.
"Zelda, that's not true, is it?" Mac asked, while looking at his old friend.
"Yes," Zelda nodded as she looked sadly at her friend. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, old friend."
"I'm more shocked then anything in light of your past experiences," Mac admitted.
Zelda sniffled as she looked at Mac's face. "Shh, don't cry," Mac hugged Zelda. "You don't want to trigger a coughing spell." Zelda wiped her eyes and blew her nose and faced Horatio.
"Do you want to explain everything? Horatio asked.
"Yes."
"Zelda, do you want me to stay or would you prefer me to leave?"
"You can stay if you want."
"Do you mind if I tape this session?" Horatio pulled a small tape recorder out of his travel bag.
"No need, I taped my confession shortly after I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Mac, will you please get that small red suitcase out of my closet and bring it to me?"
Mac retrieved the suitcase as requested and placed it on Zelda's bed, Zelda unzipped and gave Horatio a cassette tape. "Can you play this on your machine?"
"Yes I can. Do you want me to play it now?"
"Please."
Horatio inserted the cassette into his small tape machine, pressing play. After a moment, Zelda's whispery voice came from the speaker.
"I, Izelda Valdez do admit to planning and executing Jeffrey Douglas's murder – the man who murdered my sister Lisa Marie and her unborn child, who would be six years old. I travelled to Miami and after talking with Lt. Horatio Caine, who advised that Lisa's case was still unsolved and that there was not enough evidence for an arrest. I hired a private investigator to track Jeffrey Douglas's whereabouts. I then went to his house, dressed in a Burka where I talked my way inside by saying that I needed to use the phone. Once inside, I shocked him with the electric prod, then administered Sodium Pentothal (truth serum) and once it took effect I got him to confess that he killed Lisa and the baby, by drugging her, staging the car accident and finally setting her and the car on fire and I forced him to write the confession letter. I then tied him to bed where I crushed his larynx, then tortured him with the prod, stabbing him before finally killing him," and the whispering voice stopped as the tape came to an end.
"Flip it over to the other side," Zelda requested. Horatio quickly followed Zelda's request and the confession continued.
"I then cleaned up by removing my Burka, retrieving the knife, put clean gloves on, recovered my shoes with clean plastic bags putting the bloody gloves and bags into a small garbage bag before leaving the house. I drove back to the hotel, stopping along the way to dispose of the garbage bag with the bloody gloves, bags and the other pair of gloves, bags and the plastic wrap that I had wrapped over my cane in a garbage can along a back road somewhere, burning it with the help of lighter fluid. At the hotel, I finished cleaning up, packed my bags and checked out of the hotel, taking the shuttle bus to the airport. There at the airport I changed my clothes again and put a wig on, leaving the airport in a taxi, I went to the bus station, where I took the first bus to Fort Lauderdale. From there I took the train back to New York," and the tape clicked off.
Zelda looked at Mac and Horatio, who were looking back at her.
"Did you dispose of the burka and the knife as well?" Horatio asked quietly.
"No, those items are here," Zelda indicating the small suitcase. "I brought them with me from Iraq when I returned stateside."
"Why did you torture Jeffrey Douglas?"
"I felt that just killing him would be too easy, I decided that he needed to suffer for what he did to Lisa," replied Zelda.
"How could you do that Zelda, after your experiences in Iraq?" Mac asked, clearly upset.
"I learned from the best, Mac," Zelda replied in a quiet voice. "Are you disappointed in me? Shocked?"
"Yes I am deeply shocked."
"So what happens now? Am I to be arrested? Charged with first degree murder?"
"I'm sorry Zelda, but yes you will," Mac answered. "I'll call Detective Flack to come and make the arrest, and then you will be transported to the jail ward at the hospital."
"I'm sorry Mac for putting you on the spot," Zelda whispered. "Mac, do me a favour please."
"If I can."
"Help me up please, so I can go to the bathroom."
"Sure," Mac gently lifted Zelda from the bed, sitting her into her wheelchair, and pushed the chair to the door of the bathroom.
"And Mac, after Detective Flack arrives, I want you to leave before he arrests me and I don't want you to visit me at the hospital, unless I give you permission."
"Zelda, you need your friends," Mac protesting.
"Promise me Mac, as a marine."
"I promise," Mac agreed reluctantly.
"Come here so I can hug you." Mac leaned down, so Zelda could reach him. "Good bye old friend. Thanks for all the memories and support," Zelda whispered, her eyes shiny with tears behind her sunglasses.
"This isn't good bye, let's make it see you later old friend," Mac returning the hug. "I'm going to call Flack now. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Alright Mac."
When Mac finally returned to Zelda's room, he found that Horatio had helped Zelda to return to her bed where she was resting.
"Detective Flack will be here shortly," Mac quietly informed Horatio and Zelda.
"Okay, I'm really tired, so I'm just going to lay here and close my eyes before all the hoopla starts," Zelda whispered.
"I can leave you and Mac alone," Horatio began.
"No, please stay," Zelda replied.
The two CSIs talked quietly as Zelda dozed. Time passed and Mac checked his watch frowning. "I think that I am going to go call Flack and find out what the delay is."
Horatio tilted his head listening, looking over at Zelda. "Mac, call Detective Flack and tell him that he can cancel his trip here."
Mac turned and looked at Zelda and realized that his friend had quietly slipped away. Mac chewed on his lower lip, fighting tears as he turned off the oxygen, removing the mask before pulling the sheet up over her face. "She is at peace now."
"I'm sorry for your loss Mac," Horatio standing up and placing his hand on Mac's shoulder in sympathy and compassion.
Both men looked up as they heard a soft knock on the door, before Flack opened the door – walking inside the room. "Sorry for taking so long Mac, you need me to make an arrest."
"I don't now, the suspect died five minutes ago. So would you please call the M.E.'s office for me please?"
"Of course Mac. Who was it?"
"Izelda Valdez."
"Your friend Zelda?"
Mac nodded. "I'm sorry Mac," Flack said, before leaving the room to make the necessary calls.
That evening Mac and Horatio were sitting in Sullivan's and Horatio asked. "How did you and Zelda meet?"
We were both marines stationed in Beirut, Zelda was out on a supply run when I was injured in a suicide attack. I ended up on the injured list and Zelda was then posted to Iraq."
"She something about not receiving Lisa's letters because of being a P.O.W.," said Horatio, thinking back to the previous year.
"Yeah, she was only in Iraq two months, when she was part of a small patrol, that was ambushed by insurgents. Three marines were killed and the rest including her were taken prisoner."
Horatio winched. "How long was Zelda a P.O.W.?"
"Six very long torturous months. Six long Months, I still don't know how she survived," Mac paused, lost in memory. "In her confession Zelda said that she had learned from the best. She was not kidding when she said that, she was beaten, raped, sodomized and tied out in the desert during the day."
"What injuries did she have?"
"Broken legs, hips, ribs, internal damage, numerous scars from being whipped, cut with a knife and she nearly went blind from the sun. You noticed the extremely dark sunglasses that she wore. Zelda had to have numerous surgeries, skin grafts, hip replacements, pins in her ankles and of course PTSD. Zelda had to have extensive therapy sessions to learn how to deal with the outside world again."
"She was tough."
"That she was," agreed Mac.
"How did the rest of her patrol do?"
"There were six of them taken prisoner, they only rescued Zelda and two other marines, the rest came home in body bags."
Horatio sat there stunned, before asking. "Do you have any idea when her funeral will be?"
"Zelda will be given a full marine ceremony in Arlington, Virginia as any good marine deserves. Zelda was never formally charged with murder, so there is no record of her disgrace."
"Will you be attending the funeral?"
"Yes, I don't know when it will be yet. I can let you know the details."
"Please, I hope to be able to attend."
"I'm glad that she went in her sleep, Zelda would have hated dying alone in the prison ward at the hospital."
"I'm sorry that I had to meet Zelda under these circumstances."
"I am too, she was a good marine and a good friend. I'm going to miss her."
The two veteran CSIs silently toasted Izelda Valdez's memory before leaving the bar. Outside the bar, Mac reached in his coat pocket saying. "I almost forgot to give you this envelope. I found it when I was packing up Zelda's belongings." And Mac gave Horatio an envelope with Lt. Horatio Caine written on the outside, along with the words, Private and Confidential.
Back in his hotel room, Horatio stared at the envelope for a long while before finally opening it, his curiosity getting the best of him. Unfolding the enclosed paper Horatio began reading.
"Lt. Horatio Caine, now I know who you are, when I saw you two years ago on a hilltop in Rio de Janeiro I didn't know your name then, but I knew who you were fighting with. A nasty man by the name of Antonio Riaz, you're probably wondering how I could see you. My hotel window overlooked that helicopter landing pad and I was admiring the beautiful scenery with binoculars, when I saw two men fighting and then you came along and Antonio Riaz then tried to kill you. But you were able to defend yourself and your friend. And you are also probably wondering how I knew Antonio's name. I became friends with a lovely lady while visiting and I used to see him hanging around with her husband Raymond and Ray Jr., poor Yelina, she worried about her husband and son so much. I was happy, well not exactly happy, but pleased to see that her husband and son would be free from Antonio's influence.
I didn't let on, but I recognized you when I met you last year in Miami. The red hair is pretty distinctive – you have to admit. Meeting you gave me the courage to carry out my plans to avenge Lisa's death. I knew that you would try to hunt me down, but I also sensed that deep down that you would understand my reasons.
So, Lt. Caine, if you are reading this letter, this means that the cancer has beaten me and I've gone on to a better place. I know that Mac considers you to be a good friend, so please look after him for me. I don't want him to grieve for me too much, I don't want him to slip back into his dark period like when his wife Claire died on 9/11. It took him so long for him to come out of that dark place.
I do regret that I was not able to get to know you better. Also the next time you talk to Yelina, tell her thanks for her help, she'll know what I'm talking about. And that I hope that life will bring good things to her and Ray Jr.
Well, I guess that is all I have to say except farewell, Lt. Horatio Caine.
Respectfully yours, Izelda Susan Valdez."
"Farewell, Izelda Susan Valdez, I do hope that you are finally at peace,"Horatio said quietly as he refolded the letter and slid it back into the envelope.
The End
a/n - I just wanted to mention - I know nothing about the Marine Corp - all comes from my muse - my dad was in the Canadian Army as a dispatch rider. So I don't mean to offend any Marine officers.