A Dangerous Mind

Finally Jake had come up with a plan to show Calleigh Duquesne she belonged to him and only him. His stalking had paid off. This weekend he had found out that Calleigh was leaving work early to drive out to the keys to meet some of old college friends, planning to return on late Saturday evening. It was going to be so easy to follow her out there and run her off the side of the highway. Even if she was killed, she'd die knowing she had made a horrible mistake by choosing Eric Delko over him.

The Accident

The words kept running through Eric's head. Calleigh had been in an accident. Her car had been ran off the highway and down the embankment teetering on the driver's side wheels before landing back on four wheels. The driver's side air bags had deployed but not before Calleigh had struck her head off the dashboard, putting a two-inch gash in the left side of her side and immediately getting knocked unconscious. She had seen the driver of the car that drove her off the road. A man with a goatee and stringy blond hair wearing a gray bucket hat. He drove a dark blue Toyota. Jake had found a very authentic-looking disguise. Calleigh did not realize who it was.

Another driver on the highway had called 911 for help after witnessing the blue Toyota force the two-door red car off the road. The passenger in the same vehicle got a clear look at the driver and four digits of the license plate. At the lab Eric had grabbed his kit and about to head out to the scene when Horatio stopped him.

"Eric," Horatio told him. "Don't. It's Calleigh," he whispered.

Eric felt his heart stop. Life couldn't have been more perfect for Calleigh and him and their daughter. Although nothing was decided yet, they had been talking about marriage more often. They had decided that Chloe needed a backyard to play in. They had just moved into a five-bedroom bungalow with a fairly large fenced-in yard and a small back deck. The fifth 'bedroom' was about the size of a large walk-in closet. But it could hold a small futon, tony dresser and a coat rack. It could do in a pinch for extra company. The couple was looking forward to having Chloe's third birthday party at their new home in two months.

Right now Calleigh was in surgery; she had a ruptured spline that couldn't wait to be removed. She had "some swelling on the brain" according to the doctor but Calleigh would make a full recovery. The doctor expected her to regain conscious by the evening or possibly that night. Eric was also warned that Calleigh "may have some form of temporary amnesia" because of the hit to her head.

However, Calleigh didn't open her eyes till after four a.m.. Her memory was still fuzzy from the anesthesia. She could only immediately remember two things: putting her daughter in the car to take her to daycare that morning, then losing control of her car. She gasped in terror. She thought that Chloe was in the car during the accident. Eric had refused to leave her side. He was in a restless sleep on the small love seat several feet away.

"Chloe!"

Eric jumped up from the couch at the sound of Calleigh's voice and ran to her side.

"Calleigh. Calleigh, it's all right, sweetheart. I'm here. Chloe's fine. She wasn't with you, honey."

Calleigh's breathing calmed down.

"Eric, I know I was in a car accident but I don't remember anything else—"

"Honey, shh. Don't worry about any of that right now. Please, just relax."

Jake thought he was home free. Several miles from the Florida-Georgia border he had parked his own car, a silver Honda Accord on an empty side road. In the backseat of that car was one over-night bag. Among the contents of that bag was his passport and one-way ticket to Rio, Brazil that he had purchased a week before. In less than 36 hours, he would be on a plane departing from Atlanta International Airport. He knew the extradition treaty between Brazil and the USA was so limited it barely existed—if he was ever found there. The car he had used to hopefully kill Calleigh belonged to his aunt. Alma had been in a nursing home for three years now. Before dementia had completely overtook her mind Alma Shea-Berkley had told the attorney controlling her affairs that her nephew could use the car whenever he wanted. He had his own key and the staff at the parking garbage where the car was kept knew he could take the car.

Before driving away in his own Jake took off his disguise and threw the hat, wig and goatee in the front of the Toyota, he then lit a match and tossed it into the front seat and walked away.