AN: I've decided to make a slight crossover with this story, but it will still only be posted here at CSI Miami.
16:20
Erica smirked at Ryan and Natalia as they got out of their hummers. They glared at her. Frank was right behind them, with his hand waving slightly over his gun. Oh, he just wanted to shoot Erica on the spot. He didn't care who saw it either.
"Hello detectives." Erica grinned, "And Sgt. Tripp."
Frank just snorted and walked passed her. Ryan and Natalia stopped in front of her.
"Why do you think there is a connection between NY and Miami?" Natalia asked.
"I have sources that tell me there is." Erica sighed, "I'm just doing my job. Reporting news for the people of Miami."
"But you obviously don't care about the victims or the arsonist." Ryan snapped.
"Should I care about the arsonist?" Eric asked.
"Don't you get it. The more you reveal about the case the more nervous our arsonist and our pedophile will get. They might snap and do something incredibly stupid. Such as killing a child." Natalia growled.
Eric sighed. She knew that a lot of children were missing, and of course she realized that she could be putting them in danger through her reports. But it was her job, and everybody knew she had no limits when it came to giving the best news reports to the citizens.
"Just get out Erica." Ryan said and walked to the crime scene with Natalia. They ducked under the crime scene tape and went to Alexx, who was checking the victim.
"Well she died in the fire. And since the house was still on fire when Ms. Sykes was reporting news, she died very recently." Alexx sighed.
"I guess the only good things that has come out of Erica's reports is that people have started looking for fires." Ryan said.
The house wasn't so badly burnt. The fire hadn't even spread to some of the rooms. Since the fire department had been on the scene so quickly.
"Which means that we'll probably find a picture here of her missing child, a phone maybe or letters." Natalia said. She started looking at the floor for evidence, while Ryan went with the fire chief to find the point of origin.
"Have you checked anymore phone records?" Frank asked Natalia.
"Yeah, Cooper is helping too. But there are so many victims. It will take some time." Natalia said.
The team were trying to locate all the mothers who's children were missing, they had over 30 photos of children, and letters with every photo. Letters that the mothers had written to Erica Sykes. Some had even called Erica. However, some of these mothers didn't live in Florida or New York, so both Mac's team and Horatio's team tried finding them all. The letters had been written without a signature. And the ones who had called, had never said their names. That's why the team thought they were being forced to call Erica Sykes. The pedophile wanted the attention, but didn't want the children to be found. Natalia sighed when her phone rang, she thought it would be IAB.
"What?" She growled.
"Hi, I'm Dt. Mac Taylor from New York. I um, I'm wondering what you know about the case. I heard you had another fire."
"Oh, Dt. Taylor I'm sorry. I thought it was IAB calling me." Natalia apologized.
"IAB? How are they involved?"
"Well, um… Lt. Caine was in a car accident." Natalia sighed. Frank held out his hand to take the phone from her. He noticed how Natalia didn't know how to explain everything to Mac.
"Mac, this is Frank." Frank said, he was quite familiar with Mac Taylor.
"Frank, what has happened?"
"Well, Delko's mother got shot with an arrow, H was in car accident with a woman named Chleo Kilmer." Frank said, "And we're still looking for the pedophile and the arsonist. And of course we have to figure out who killed Raquel Delko, and find Chleo Kilmer."
"That's a lot." Mac said, "Do you want me to send down some help?"
"It's up to you." Frank sighed.
"How is Horatio?"
"Critical but stable. He's in surgery."
"And Delko?"
"Worried." Frank sighed, "We all are. Anyway… when I think about it, a little help probably wouldn't be so bad."
"Alright, I'll send someone down to ya." Mac said, "Call if things change."
"Will do. Bye." Frank said and hung up.
He explained the situation to Natalia, who agreed that help would be perfect for them. They were basically two people short. Eric wouldn't want to work with the case until he was sure that Horatio was stable, and even then he'd spend a lot of time at the hospital. Calleigh was pregnant and had to stay in the lab, so that only left Ryan and Natalia to process the crime scenes. Natalia prayed that there would be no more crime scene, and she also hoped that they would find a break in the case. They desperately needed it. Ryan, had went with the fire chief to the point of origin. It was the back porch.
"How could it be that all the victim's houses have a back porch." Ryan muttered, "Could it really be a coincidence?"
"What about the cleaning lady then? I heard she was killed at the morgue." The fire chief Henry said.
"Yeah, that's right. But it's still weird how all the other fires down here started at the back porch."
Frank joined the duo, "Mac Taylor from New York is sending down some help." He said.
"Good, we'll need it. We also need to know what the point of origin was in NY." Ryan said, "Here it's the back porch. But I don't think that there are many houses in NY."
"Nope." Frank said, "We can ask the New Yorker when he or she arrives."
Ryan nodded. He swabbed a liquid from the porch floor, most likely gasoline.
-I-
16:40
"I'm Erica Sykes, reporting from outside the house of Martha Bones. A single mother, who is the latest victim of the serial arsonist in Miami. The police still don't know who the arsonist is. But sources tell us that there is a connection between New York and Miami."
The pedophile threw the remote control for his TV at the wall and growled. If the police had connected the arsonist to New York, it meant that it wouldn't take them long to connect him to New York either. It wasn't his fault that he had a stalker. That the stupid woman wouldn't stop following him. He would be more successful as a child abductor and a pedophile if that god dam woman wasn't around. Not only was his stalker his problem, but his companion too. His cousin was stupid and would soon make a mistake, and once the NY cops caught him, it was only a matter of time before MDPD showed up at his door. His phone rang and he answered it.
"Yeah, this is Matthew."
"Matt, I'm in deep shit. I failed to kill one of the kids." His cousin Jerry said.
"Jerry. I told you to stay away from child abducting!"
"I want to be like you." Jerry whined.
"Jerry, I was made for this. Not you. Now you come down here right now!"
"Why?"
"That god dam stalker of mine is making trouble for me! I'll show you once you get down here." Matt said and hung up.
Jerry and Matthew were the only ones left in their family. Matt had discovered at an early age that he hated kids, he hated their laughs, but they were fun to hurt. So he hurt them. Every time he heard children's laughter in his head he had to hurt a kid. That's why he had a basement with over 25 kids in it. However one little girl had already gotten away. She was either dead or alive. It was a girl called Emma. Matt didn't know how she had escaped but she had somehow. Dammit! He had been so careless. Jerry on the other hand, had nothing against kids. He just wanted to be like his older cousin. He kidnapped kids and suffocated them. But their bodies remained lost. And as usual Jerry had made a mistake. He always did. So Matt had to save him once again. He was so tired of doing that. He had recorded Sykes's report and decided to watch it again. Yeah, he was screwed. Maybe it was time to move to another city. Only, he didn't feel like moving right now, and if he did, he had to kill all those kids in the basement. He preferred killing them slowly one by one. Yes, he was a real psycho.
---
Across town Isabella was just as angry. The cops were on to her. Fires were supposed to keep her calm, but now she was angry again. All she wanted was to get Matt's attention. But he didn't know who she was, because he never looked at her. Oh yes, she was tracking his every move. She loved him, and one day he would realize that he loved her too. Until then she was stuck with her stupid companion, Catherine. A woman with no future. Isabella had been forced to burn her house down. Yes, she had had no other choice. She didn't know if Catherine was still alive though, but probably not. Isabella tried drinking water to calm down, but it wasn't working. Maybe she had to start another fire. She would just have to find another victim. Maybe she should check if Catherine was still alive, so she could finish her off.
-I-
19:30
Ryan ran through the lab hallways in search for Calleigh and Natalia. The lab techs watched him curiously. In his hand he held a paper, which would provide the team with a break in the case. He stopped and almost fell backwards when he ran passed the lab in which the girls were. He went back and opened the door, panting.
"What did you do, run here?" Calleigh asked.
"Exactly." Ryan panted, "I found a break in the case!"
"Well, tell us." Natalia said.
Just as Ryan was about to tell them, Frank walked in with a young man behind him. It was the New Yorker.
"Hello, this is Danny Messer." Frank introduced the team to Danny.
Danny shook hands with all of them, as they introduced themselves.
"So you're the one who's here to help." Calleigh smiled, "We appreciate it."
"No problem. We're probably helping each other. We're at a dead end up in NY." Danny smiled.
"Yeah, you still have a child abductor up there, but not an arsonist right?" Natalia asked.
"Yeah. Apparently the arsonist came down here." Danny said, "We think that there are two pedophiles."
"Really? We think it's the arsonist who has help." Frank said, "Why are jumping around Ryan?"
"Because I found a break in the case." Ryan said, "The gasoline from the latest fire doesn't match the ones from the other ones. It's better quality. And it's usually used by jaguars or luxurious cars."
"Maybe the arsonist ran out of gasoline and had to use her own." Danny said.
"That's exactly what I think!" Ryan smiled, "So we're looking for an expensive car."
"Which there are several of in Miami." Natalia sighed.
"Well, at least now we know that our arsonist can afford it." Ryan smiled, "Unless of course she stole it from someone else's car."
"Still, if we find the car we might find fingerprints." Frank said.
"Her DNA is not in the system Frank, neither will her fingerprints be." Ryan said.
"Maybe not AFIS. But she could be still have fingerprints from different organizations." Danny said.
The team nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I will tell all officers to check for car owners who recently discovered that their gasoline was stolen." Frank muttered and left the team alone.
"What evidence do ya have from NY?" Calleigh asked.
"Nothing from the pedophile. The first kid disappeared over three months ago, and the last one just three days ago." Danny sighed, "As for the arsonist. She always started the fires at the doors. And it was always apartments."
"She always keeps to a specific place for the fire to start, down here she has chosen the back porch as he favorite place." Calleigh said, "We need to split up a little bit. Ryan you talk to Catherine Bells at the hospital."
"Did the last victim have a name and a kid?" Danny asked.
"Oh right sorry. Yes, the victim's name is Martha Bones, and she had a son, his name is Peter." Calleigh said, "We found several photos in her house with his name on them."
"The fire workers got there quickly." Danny said.
"Yeah, ever since these fires started, people have become more alert." Ryan said and then left to take a ride to the hospital and talk to Catherine Bells, hopefully she was awake.
"Why don't you two take another look at the crime scene, a fresh pair of eyes are always good." Calleigh smiled at Danny and Natalia.
"You're not coming with us?" Danny asked.
"Nope, I'm pregnant. So I'll stay her in the lab, helping Cooper with victim's phone records." Calleigh smiled.
Danny nodded and smiled at her, then followed Natalia to the crime scene. Danny had underestimated the weather in Miami, because he was sweating, while no one else seemed to.
"It's hot in Miami." Natalia grinned as she got into the hummer.
"No kidding." Danny chuckled, "Whoa! Can I drive?" He asked when he saw the hummer.
Natalia nodded and sat down in the passenger's seat. Danny grinned like a school boy and started the engine. He had always wanted to drive a big car like the hummer.
-I-
19:45
Valera and Jason looked at Eric, who just stared at his feet. He was still shocked. Joseph had gone to the men's room for a minute. Eric's sister had been forced to go home to their families after many hours at the hospital. Valera and Jason were about go home too. Valera was exhausted and needed to rest.
"Eric." Jason said softly and patted his arm.
Eric jumped and then sighed.
"Sorry." He said.
"You have nothing to apologize for." Jason smiled.
"I have to apologize to H." Eric sighed.
"No, this is not your fault." Valera said firmly, thinking that Eric was blaming himself.
"It's not that." Eric said, looking at her with sad eyes, "A year ago… I cheated on him. I was drunk, and well, ended up with this girl."
Valera and Jason looked shocked at Eric. It explained why both men had acted to weird lately. Valera hugged Eric.
"Oh Eric, it was a mistake." She said, "he will forgive you."
"You didn't see the look in his eyes when I told him Val." Eric said, "He was hurt. It was so painful."
"But given time he will forgive you." Jason said.
"I have a lot to make up for hurting him. I just want to see him right now." Eric sighed.
"And you will soon." Valera said, then yawned.
"You two should go home." Eric said, "You both need to rest."
Valera nodded, not having the energy to argue, and after all Eric was right. She needed to rest. Jason and Valera both hugged Eric goodbye and then walked to the parking lot. They got into the car. Valera fell asleep instantly. Jason smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, before driving home.
He had only gotten a bit further then halfway when he saw a young blond girl at the side of the road. He stopped the car, and got out. She was bleeding.
"Miss, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I should go to the hospital." She said.
Jason nodded for her to get inside the car. He did a u-turn and drove back to the hospital. What he didn't notice was the knife the woman held in her hard. She leaned forward between the front seats and looked at Jason.
"Are you a cop?" She asked.
"No, Ma'm , I used to be a doctor, but I'm training to become an ME." Jason smiled slightly, "What happened to ya?"
"Oh I was just in a car accident." She smirked.
Jason looked confused at her. He got a feeling that something was very wrong. The woman was bleeding for a cut on her arm, and she had been limping before.
"Car accident, that sounds very serious." Jason said.
"It was. I've been walking through the Glades for hours now."
Jason suddenly realized who the woman was. She had been in the same accident as Horatio. Throughout the day Jason and the other had been updated on what the team knew about the cases they had. So he knew that Horatio hadn't been alone in car crash. Janet Chambers, who was the woman in the back seat, suddenly pressed her knife against Jason's neck.
"Keep on driving to the hospital. And keep quiet. We don't want to wake you pregnant girlfriend now do we." Janet smirked.
-I-
Isabella sighed and patiently waited for the elevator stop at the ICU. She had seen the cop downstairs who was on his way to the same floor, only in the other elevator. She knew he was there to talk to Catherine.
Isabella almost ran out of the elevator as it stopped on the 4th floor. She asked the nurses station which room Catherine was in.
"She's in room 115." The nurse smiled, "Are you family?"
"Yes, she is my sister." Isabella lied and walked towards the room.
She had a small bowl of gasoline in her purse, and a lighter of course. Tonight the would be able to sleep safely.
She entered the room and saw her companion lying on a bed, badly burned.
"Stupid girl." Isabella sighed and poured gasoline over the body, "I will end your suffering, bitch."
Ryan just walked out of the elevator.
"Excuse me, where can I find Catherine Bells, I'm with MDPD." He said and showed the nurse his badge.
"Room 115. Her sister is there too." The nurse said.
Ryan nodded and walked towards the room. That's when he saw a young girl run out of the room on the same time as the patients was set on fire.
TBC…
AN: Please review!