Ryan woke up with a start as Marilyn Manson's Rock is Dead started
playing. He groped around the coffee table until he found the source. Looking at it
closely, he realized it was Jess' phone.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Jess?" came the voice on the other end.
"Horatio?"
"Mr. Wolfe?"
"Crap. Hi. Let me get Jess for you." He turned around and started shaking
her awake.
"Wassamatter?" she asked groggily.
"Your dad's on the phone."
"Oh, okay." She grabbed the phone away from Ryan. "Hi, da-da-daddy,"
she said while failing to stifle a yawn. "What's up?"
"Any particular reason Mr. Wolfe answered your phone?"
"Um, you left the bar and weren't home, and I had no car or key, so I
stayed at his place."
"Well, at any rate, we have a 419 on Hibiscus Island that we need you two
at."
"Don't worry daddy, we're on it." After receiving directions, she turned to
Ryan. "I need to borrow some clothes."
"I don't think I have anything that'll fit you. Anyway, why can't you wear
what you wore yesterday?"
"Ryan, honey, I'm a girl. We don't wear shirts more than once in a row.
And besides, I just need a tank top and an over shirt."
"Well, we could take a look in the closet, I guess." She ran into his room
and started searching. A few minutes later, she pulled on a white wife-beater and a black
button-up.
"How does this look?" she asked.
"Looks good," said Ryan. "You ready to go?"
"Yup." They walked out to the garage and got into the Volvo. Jess sighed.
"What is your ordeal with my car?" asked Ryan, correctly guessing the
reason for the sigh.
"I'm a grease monkey. I'm into motorcycles, and muscle cars. And a
Volvo does not fit those categories."
"Well, you're going to have to deal with it, because I'm not switching
cars. This baby has been reliable since the first day I got her."
"We'll see if she's as reliable by the end of the day," she muttered to
herself.
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Having traded in the Volvo for a department-issued Hummer, They
arrived at the crime scene twenty minutes later. The rest of the team was already there.
"Gees, Jess, what took you so long?" asked Eric
"Late start, Eric. You see, I, unlike you happen to have a night life," she
said as she ducked under the crime scene tape.
"Meaning what exactly?"
"Meaning she was up watching a Star Trek marathon last night,"
said Ryan.
"Hey, Alexx, what have we got?" asked Jess as she stuck her tongue out at
Ryan.
"Brian Summers, age 29. My guesss would be the poor boy died of asphyxiation due to strangulation."
"Any idea what the murder weapon is?"
"Not yet, but…. Hey Jess, honey? Is it just me or are his pants unzipped?"
Jess walked over to the body.
"As a matter of fact, Alexx, they are." She looked around. "Alexx, can you
roll him for me?" As the body was turned, both women noticed something strange about
the victim's back.
"Are those scratch marks?" asked Alexx.
"They are."
"So, what do you think?" asked Eric. "Guy took a leak and then was
ambushed?"
"With the way those scratch marks look, I don't think so. I'm thinking
more along the lines of…" She bent down. "More along the lines of sex."
"How can you tell?"
"If those were caused by an attack, they would be deeper because our vic
would have been struggling. However, the scratches are shallow, and I found this next to
the body." She held up a fake fingernail, painted purple. "There was definitely a female
presence in this park last night." Ryan walked over to where Jess was standing.
"Let me see that," he said. All of a sudden, gunfire rang out a few blocks
away. Ryan pushed Jess to the ground, landing on top of her.
"Gees, Ryan. You could have at least bought me dinner first."
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." She jumped up and started running towards the gunfire, hopping
the fence in the process.
After watching Jess, Horatio started giving orders. "Calleigh, Eric, You
two stay with this vic. Ryan, take an officer and go find Jess. Alexx, you and I have a
new crime scene."
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The officer Ryan grabbed happened to be named Aaron Jessop. He hadn't
been an officer very long, but he knew dedication when he saw it. And believe him, the
brunette gal was dedicated. He had never seen anyone move that fast for a suspect. His
thoughts were drawn away by the radio.
"I lost him," came the voice of the brunette. Ryan grabbed the radio.
"Where are you, Jess?"
"I'm on 25th and Lander."
"Didn't you start on 2nd and Massachusetts?"
"Yeah, then I stopped on 2nd and Lander to see if the 2nd 419 was still alive."
"How did you manage 25 blocks in 7 minutes?"
"I used to run track. When are you gonna get here?"
"We'll be there in 2 minutes." He put the radio back on the hook and
turned to Jessop. "We need to get to 25th and Lander."
"Her running track would explain how she moved so quickly,"
commented Jessop to himself.
"What'd you say?" asked Ryan.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself." They pulled over to the side
and got out to find Jess doubled over and breathing hard.
"How did you lose him? You were, like, the bionic friggin woman out
there!" exclaimed Ryan.
"I wouldn't have lost him if he hadn't driven off, the bastard. He drove a
black Toyota Camry, between the years 2000 and 2002, with Miami plates Thomas
Quentin Laura 5. That was all I could get for you. Sorry."
"Don't be sorry. You did what you…" he was cut off by Rock is dead
coming from Jess' pocket.
"Hold on. Yeah? Hey daddy. What? What do you mean? What do you
mean by 'potentially problematic? How the fuck… never mind. I'm coming over there.
I'll be there in 5. okay. Bye." She hung up. "Ryan, can you take care of the evidence of
the car? I have an issue I need to deal with."
"Sure, no problem."
"Great. Awesome. Officer? Can you give me a ride?"
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"How the hell did she get it?" asked Jess. She was at the second crime
scene, talking to Horatio. "I never hand out my number to people I don't know, and I've
never seen her before in my life."
"That's why I called you down. I'm just as curious about this as you are,
especially after the whole ordeal during college."
"I don't know." She looked around. "Hey Alexx? Do we have an ID on
her yet?"
"Yeah. And she was a big name. Alicia Dalton."
"You mean the model?"
"Yeah. And I believe she was also the owner of that purple fingernail you
found at the park." She held up a hand to reveal four purple fingernails, and one missing.
"So how would a model have my number? Unless….hey daddy, do you
mind if I head back to CSI? I think I know why this happened, but I'd rather not put the
third party under the microscope just yet."
"Yeah, sure. You can ride back with Alexx."
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As Jess crawled out of the van, she saw a short young woman with
chestnut colored hair going down to her shoulders waiting at the door.
"Hey Danielle," she called.
"Hey Jess! Long time no see."
"I know. I've been busy with work and moving and all."
"You still looking for a good place?"
"Yeah, and I think I found the winner. You wanna head inside?"
"Sure. Just waiting for you to show up." They walked into the building
together. After signing Danielle in, Jess lead her to Horatio's office and shut the door.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"Coffee please."
"So what are you doing in Miami, Danielle?" she asked as she poured
coffee into a mug.
"It's fashion week. I'm actually supposed to be fitting my models right
now," she said as she accepted the mug
"You wouldn't happen to have a model named Alicia Dalton working for
you this time around, would you?"
"Yes, actually. She was supposed to show up this morning for tailoring,
but she never came. Why?"
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she was shot this morning."
"Oh my god! You're kidding! Wait. Am I a suspect?"
"What? Oh, nonononononono. That's not why I called you down here. I
called you down here because we found her and, upon searching her possessions, we
found my number in her phone. I was just curious as to why that was."
"Oh. That. Well, you see, she was having problems with an ex, and so I
gave her your number last night and told her, if she had any problems, to call you. I was
actually going to tell you today about it." She took a sip of her coffee.
"What about a Brian Summers? Did you know him?"
"Yes. He was Alicia's boyfriend." She took another sip of her coffee and
then asked, "You didn't happen to find Sophie, did you?"
"Sophie? Who's Sophie?"
"Sophie is her 5-year-old daughter. She was the reason Alicia was being
stalked."
"She has a kid?"
"Yes. A very cute little…"
"Hold that thought." She pulled out her phone. "Hey, daddy? Yeah. Yeah,
I found out why she had my number, but we got a bigger problem. Our vic, Alicia,
apparently has a daughter. Yeah. A little five-year old. Just to give you a heads up. Yeah.
As soon as I get the address. Okay. Bye." She flipped her phone closed and turned to
Danielle, "You wanna go for a ride?"
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Twenty minutes later, Jess and Danielle arrived at Alicia's house. Jess
turned to Danielle. "You know what to do?"
"Yes. Go in, try to find Sophie, and if there are any strange people, stay
out of the way."
"Good. Now stay behind me." Jess pulled out her 9 mil and slowly opened
the door. "Sophie? Sophie, honey, it's okay. My name is Jessica Caine. I work with the
police. You can come out now."
"Sophie? It's your mommy's friend, Danielle. Jess happens to be a good
friend of mine. You can trust her." Slowly, a blond head appeared from behind the closet
door.
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"Yes, honey, it's safe."
"Is the bad man gone?"
"What bad man?"
"The man who shot mommy. He came in looking for something, and then
walked out the door."
"Yes, honey. The bad man is gone," said Jess. She reholstered her gun and
grabbed Sophie. "Honey, I need you to show me where the man touched the house,
without touching it yourself." Sophie started walking toward the front door.
"He touched there," she said, pointing at the door knob.
"Okay. Danielle, take her to the Hummer. I'll be out in a few." She pulled
out her phone again. "Hey daddy. Yeah, we found her. I may have evidence of our killer
here, so I'm gonna be a little late getting back." She hung up and pulled from her kit
fingerprint dust and a little brush. "You, sir, should do the trick."
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"Hey Jess," called Ryan. It was 45 minutes later and Jess had just arrived
back at the lab with a few juicy prints from the door knob.
"Hey, Ryan. What's up?"
"I figured I'd tell you in person, you made catching our suspect a hell of a
lot easier."
"How so?"
"When you shot at the car, you shot the damn gas tank."
"And since you can't get very far without a gas tank…"
"We already called all the auto shops and let them know what we're
looking for. I heard you got to play hero today."
"I would have done the same for anyone. And I mean anyone." She turned
and walked toward the fingerprint lab to find Eric sitting there. "Hey, man. What are you
doing here?"
"Well, I thought I had a fingerprint on Mr. Summers' cell phone, but the
partial is so smudged, AFIS can't read it."
"Do you mind if I use it? I got some prints on the doorknob of Alicia's
house, and I have reason to believe it came from our killer."
"Sure, go right on ahead." She placed the prints in the scanner and ran
them through AFIS.
"Huh. We got a hit."
"Who is it?"
"His name is Patrick… Dalton. Arrested for assault and battery"
"Isn't that the same last name as the female vic?"
"It is. Her… friend did say she was being stalked by an ex."
"We may have found our killer."
"Well, before we arrest him, we have to prove he's guilty, which we don't
even know he is."
"You up for an interrogation?"
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"Look, if Alicia called and said I violated that damn restraining order,
she's lyin." Jess and Eric were in the interrogation room questioning Patrick, who looked
like the stereotypical biker thug.
"That's not why you were called down. You were called down because
Alicia and her current boyfriend were killed and we found your fingerprints at her house
where her daughter was, hiding in fear because the man who shot her mother was in the
house."
"Alicia's dead? Hey, I didn' do that. I only went into the house to find
my baby girl."
"Okay. I'll be right back." She turned to Eric. "Mind talking with me
outside?"
"Sure." The moment the door closed, he turned to look at her. "What's
going on?"
"Did anyone get the autopsy reports from Alexx yet?"
"Ummmm, I'm not sure?"
"Okay. Keep him in there."
"Where are you going?"
"The morgue."
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"Well, Brian definitely died from strangulation. You can see the ligature
marks on his neck. Alicia, however, was shot. Close range, twice. I managed to get both
bullets out, but one of them is so mangled, I can't see you getting ballistics off of it," said
Alexx. Her and Jess were in the morgue, talking about the victims.
"Hmmmmmm. Well, we'll just have to do the best we can with the one
then, won't we?" said Jess. "Do you mind if I get a copy of the picture of the ligature
marks? I might be able to identify the pattern. And that bullet?"
"Sure thing." She handed Jess the picture.
"Thanks." Jess walked out the door. As she started heading to the break
room, she almost ran into Calleigh and Ryan.
"Hey, Jess?" There's a young woman in Horatio's office, asking if it's
okay for her to leave. What should I tell her?" asked Calleigh.
"Oops. Go ahead and tell her it's okay to leave, and that I said that I'm
sorry I left her hanging."
"Who is she?"
"You ever hear of Cortege?"
"Yeah. It's one of the largest fashion empires of the U.S."
"And the only one using all green materials. Anyway, she's a friend of
mine and happens to be the designer for that brand."
"You're kidding me! You mean you're friends with Danielle?"
"Yup. Shit. I need to look at something really quickly. Calleigh, do you
mind taking a look at this bullet for me when you're done?"
"Sure."
"Thank you!" Jess turned and walked into the break room and started
studying the pictures. A few moments later, Frank walked into the room.
"Hey Jess. What're you doing?" he asked.
"I'm looking at the pattern on our male victim's neck. Do you happen to
see the zigzags here?"
"Yeah. Yeah, actually, I do. What do you think it means?"
"I don't know. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen used as a
weapon before, and yet…." She paused, then jumped out of her seat and ran out of the
room. A few seconds later, she started tearing through her locker.
"What are you doing?" asked Ryan.
"I had a spare pair of sneakers in here. Where did they go?"
Ryan walked up behind her and pulled a pair of Converse off the top shelf.
"You mean these?"
"Yes. Thank you." She grabbed the shoes away from Ryan and started
unlacing them. "If my hunch is correct, I may have found one of our murder weapons."
"How did you come across this hunch, if I may ask?"
"I took a second look at Alexx's autopsy photos, mainly the one of Brian's
neck. And then I remembered that he was also wearing a pair of Converse. So I'm testing
a theory." She grabbed the shoelace and ran out of the room and back down to the
morgue. "Hey, Alexx?"
"Hey, honey. What can I do for you?"
"Where's Brian Summers?"
"I put him away."
"Can you pull him out? I need to see something."
"Sure. What is it that you need to see?"
"Well, I took a look at those ligature marks and couldn't help feeling I had
seen the pattern somewhere. Then I looked at the width and it hit me. I had seen the
pattern before because I use it everyday."
"You do?"
"Yes." She took her shoelace and placed it around the victim's neck, with
an almost perfect match. "Yes, I do use it everyday. The weapon is a shoelace, from a
pair of tennis shoes. Can I get Brian's personal effects, please?"
"Sure. Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Yes. His shoelaces. And if you could touch the ends as little as possible,
that would be great." Alexx handed her the shoelaces by the middle. "Thanks you!" Jess
shouted as she ran out the door.
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"What're you doing?" asked Ryan as he walked into the DNA lab. Jess
had been sitting there for about half an hour, staring at the computer screen.
"I'm waiting for DNA results."
"From what?"
"Well, I managed to get some epithelials off of the shoelaces, so now I'm
just waiting to see who they belong to."
"Huh. Well, I came in here to ask you, since you're currently looking to
move out of your dad's house, if you would like to move into mine. I'm currently looking
for a bigger place, so the 1-bedroom would only be temporary…"
"Ryan, honey, you're babbling. Yes, I would love to move in with you."
"Really? Cool. So when are we going to start moving stuff in?"
"How about tonight?"
"Sure."
"Oh, um, I should probably ask this now, but do you mind pets?"
"Pets shouldn't be a problem, unless they get really messy."
"They won't." Suddenly, the computer pinged. "Looks like we have a hit.
And… why am I not surprised. Now I just need to…" The office phone started ringing,
cutting of Jess. She swiveled around and picked it up. "Hello? Yes. Yes, this is the
Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Yes. Really? Are you sure? Okay. Can you email me a couple
pics of the car? One of the front, one of the back, one of each side, and pics of the
damage done. Okay." She gave the person on the phone her email, then hung up. A few
moments later, she opened her email and took a look at the pictures. "Yes. That is
definitely the car I shot at. The license plate has the 4 digits I gave you, and the registered
owner is our suspect. Now I just need to confirm that bullet with Calleigh, and this case is
closed."
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"So I ran that bullet through IBIS, and I got a hit. Your suspect, Patrick
Dalton, was arrested a few years back for shooting a deer out of season, and this bullet
matched striations with the bullet from that scene."
"So if we can find that gun, we can irrefutably link him to all three
scenes."
"You got him at two of them?"
"His DNA was on the murder weapon for Brian, and it was his car that I
shot. So now all we need is that gun, or his confession, and this case is closed." She
paused for a second then looked at Calleigh. "Has the car been searched yet?"
"No, I don't think so. Why?"
"Because if I'm pegging this guy correctly, he may have left us a little
present in there."
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"So, Mr. Dalton, last time I saw you, my case was coming to a standstill,
but then, by a stroke of luck, we managed to peg you at all three scenes: Your epithelials
on the shoestring that killed Brian, a bullet from your gun in Alicia, and your car fleeing
my scene with my bullet in your gas tank. Want to explain yourself?"
"No."
"Okay, then. I'm gonna tell you what I think happened. I know you were
threatening Alicia. When that didn't work, you resorted to breaking and entering. Then
you caught her with her current boyfriend, and that pissed you right the fuck off. So you
decided to kill the competition, literally. But then you had the problem of Alicia
witnessing the act, and so you had to kill her too. But then you realized Sophie was
probably in the house, and so you dragged Alicia off two blocks away from her house,
and shot her. All for your daughter. All for Sophie."
"You know, I helped bring that little girl into this world. I helped create
her. And how does Alicia repay me? By putting a goddamn restraining order on me. So I
did what I had to do in order to see my baby girl."
"You really shouldn't have wasted your time. Sophie doesn't even know
who the hell you are."
"That's a lie!" shouted Patrick, now jumping up and crossing the room to
stand in front of Jess. He pulled out a knife and held it to her throat. "Stop lyin' to me,
you fucking bitch!"
"Sir, if I were you, I would take that knife away from me right fucking
now!"
"Yeah? What're you gonna do if I don't. You're just a punk-ass bitch
hiding behind a badge."
"Okay. You asked for it." She lifted her right leg and gave a kick. When
she looked down, she saw Patrick lying across the table, clutching his abdomen. She
walked over to him and said, "Don't you ever fucking try to threaten me again." She
turned around to see two security guards and Ryan running in. "Y'all are a little too late."
"Are you okay? What the hell happened?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Somebody missed the knife in his boot, and he tried to
threaten me with it. Y'all see how that turned out."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Do you see a scratch on me?"
"I'm not talking physically."
"Do you not remember the conversation we had six months ago about me
being stalked? I think I can handle a jackass with a knife."
"Jesus," said Ryan, looking at Patrick. "Remind me to never piss you off."
"Will do." Suddenly her phone started ringing. After answering, she
asked, "Do you mind seeing him through booking? I have an errand I need to run."
"Yeah, no problem."
"Thanks."
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"Hey, Horatio! Wait up!" Ryan exclaimed while running down the hall,
trying to catch up to his boss.
"Mister Wolfe. What can I do for you?"
"I don't know if Jess had any time to tell you…"
"Don't worry. She already told me about the move."
"Okay. She told me she wanted to move her stuff tonight, so I was
wondering if that was okay?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"Great." The two men walked out the door and into the parking lot. Ryan
started looking around. "Dude, where's my car?"
"What do you mean?"
"I had my car parked right here, and now it's go…" he paused mid-
sentence as he saw a yellow 1972 Chevy Camaro pull through the parking lot. "Oh, no.
No way in hell." The Camaro pulled over in front of him and Horatio and Jess hopped
out.
"Hey guys," she said.
"What the hell happened to my car?" asked Ryan.
"Funny story. I parked in a no parking zone, and by the time I realized it,
they had already towed it, and I had no idea where it was towed to. So I bought a new
one."
"Uh-huh. Sure." He stared at the car, then said, "No use crying over spilt
milk, I guess. Give me the keys."
"Here you go."
"H, we'll meet you over there."
"Sounds like a plan," said Horatio as all three of them got into their cars.
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