Author Notes: New chapter yay! Totally edited it in class lol
11. In The Crosshairs
In spite of the reasoning for the day off Calleigh enjoyed the little break. Normally her days off were spent doing stuff any responsible adults did to keep their house in order like paying bills, restocking the fridge, running other errands and cleaning their gun collection. If she were any other stereotypical woman in her position they would spend the evening watching sappy romance movies and eating ice cream for comfort, but Calleigh wasn't any other stereotypical woman and she spent day at the shooting range. She rented the biggest gun with the biggest kick and shot round after round till closing time.
The next morning, when she woke she felt so refreshed, ready to face the world, ready to face Stetler, ready to face anything. She arrived at the Crime Lab in a record of time, arriving an hour earlier than she was expected. Hoping to have some time to settle in before facing Stetler.
As she walked towards the door the Crime Lab her phone rung, it was Natalia.
"Hey Natalia" she smiled into the phone "what's up?"
"Hey Cal, you here yet?" Natalia voice said from the phone
Calleigh arrive at the door and began to reach for the handle to open it "Yes, I wanted to get a little settled in before meeting with the IAB department"
"Yeah, about that I would suggest using the other door" but Natalia's warning was too little too late. Calleigh had already opened the door and entered the lab to be greeted by the IAB welcoming committee, Stetler along with two other IAB agents and a couple of cadets stood in her path. Natalia stood in the hall off to the distance, phone still to her ear with a sympathetic look on her face.
"Yeeaah th-thanks got to go" Calleigh said then closed her phone looking at the group before her with a stunned and irritated look on her face.
"Been looking from you, Duquesne." Stetler said in an unnecessary loud voice.
She don't have to look to know that all eyes were on them, both coworkers and citizens alike. She felt like a convicted murderer taking a perp walk down the hall. She briskly walked up the Stetler with an anger expression on her face, when she got face to face with him and confronted him in a low harsh voice. "What is this, Rick? This is highly inappropriate" she hissed.
"Oh this" Rick step back gesturing at the group "It's just to say" he moved back to his place respectively in her face and whispered "it's no sweet talking your way out of the one, Duquesne. There's no way of avoiding this one. I've got you" the tension in the room was raising.
Calleigh pointed her finger in Rick face and said "Rick, you can go to-"
Horatio appeared from nowhere, stepping in before things got any uglier. "Rick," he said in a warning manner as he stepped between Duquesne and Stetler. "Maybe you should give the lady some space, I'm sure she'll" he looked down "make your appointment to a timely manner. Excuse us this meeting is over" Horatio said in a normal tone, he put his hand on Calleigh's back and guided her away from Stetler and his entourage, intentionally bumping Stetler in the process.
"Thanks" Calleigh whispered to him, she glared back at Stetler and shot him a look.
He nodded and guided her further down the hall. When he was sure he was out of ear shot he removed his hand from her back and stopped. He looked down then spoke. "Ma'am, I need you to keep a leveled head on this one. Stetler is playing a game I refuse to play. Our main concern is doing our job, so feed IAB department whatever they want to keep them off our backs, but finding Eric is top priority."
Calleigh nodded in agreement to Horatio's words. Horatio then walked off back towards the front door.
"So this is war?" Calleigh said. It was more for a statement than a question.
"Yes, it is and I intend to" he paused and put on his shade "be the one standing when the smoke clears" then he continued towards the front door. Calleigh lean up against the wall and closed her eyes, taking in Horatio words and promising herself not to fall prey to Stetler's silly tactics.
She straightened herself and continued down the hall heading to the break room for a cup of coffee. She waved at Valera, who was busy running test in the lab, when she reached the break room Natalia was there to greet her.
"Hey" she said "sorry the warning was late, Horatio said you were coming in at 8."
Calleigh walked over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup. "Yeah, you know me always the early bird and to think Stetler would let me settle in. How long were they waiting for me? Where they standing there the whole time?"
"Stetler was busying him in the lobby all morning doing nothing. I think he even went as far as having a cadet posted outside for call in when you approached, talk about no life, right?" Natalia laughed, earning a smile from Calleigh.
"So" she added in a more serious tone "how are you holding up?" she looked at Calleigh with genuine concern in her eyes.
"I'm, I'm ok, I'm um" she stammered "I'm better" she said a clearer more certain tone. She had felt so exposed already. She had cried in front of Horatio, Frank and a crowd of cadets, she cried on Ryan's shoulder, if she went into more details with Natalia she was sure she'd start crying again. She needed to stay strong; she told Horatio that she'd keep it together.
She saw a hurt look flash in Natalia eyes for her emotional lock out and it made her feel guilty. Natalia wasn't being nosy she was just concerned. So Calleigh explained her curtness.
"I'm sorry" she said "It just that if I talk about it, I'll cry and I've been crying enough these days." She laughed "I blame myself for this whole thing and I need to keep my emotions under wraps so I can do my job more effectively" she smile at Natalia, Natalia reluctantly smiled back.
"I understand, but it's not your fault, if you need to talk you can call me anytime, Ok?"
"Sure, thanks Natalia" she said
"You're welcome, Cal. Well I got to go, I have some evidence to process" Natalia finished off her coffee and exited the room.
Calleigh sit in the break room until it was time for her meeting with IAB. As much as she wanted to stall Horatio said she'd be there in a timely manner she so would.
"I won't fuel that fire" she thought as she made her way to Stetler's office.
"Rick," she said as she knocked on the door that was half way open, she waited a few seconds and when he didn't open it, she slipped in.
He was seating at his desk, pen and pad in hand, finishing up a phone call when she entered the room. He gave her the "one second" finger without even looking up at her and continued his call.
"Sure, sure, yes" he said into the phone "yes, will do will do, ok bye" then he end his phone call.
"Ms. Duquesne" he said looking up at her "I have to finish up here then I'll meet you in interrogation room 1A" he looked down and busied himself once more. Calleigh stood there and stared at him.
"Is there something else?" he asked her looking up again.
"Yeah, your office is a well-equipped meeting place, so can't we just have the meeting here?" She asked.
"Um no" he said abruptly
"Might I ask why?" Calleigh asked annoyed by Stetler terseness.
"Because we're meeting in interrogation room 1A" Rick said then picked up his phone and dialed it. Calleigh had a few words she liked to tell Stetler, but she remembered Horatio's words and decided it was best to hold her tongue. "Don't play his games" she told herself.
Calleigh headed towards the interrogation room, fully aware of Stetler's reasoning of choosing it as a meeting place. It was one of his usual tricks, he wanted to take down Horatio and his team and he wanted to do it publicly for the whole department to see and 1A was the best room for that. It was sandwiched between the most heavily trafficked halls in the entire lab. Calleigh entered the empty room and took a seat, waiting for Stetler.
She sit there alone, aware of the eyes that stared in as they passed by, minutes went by and no Stetler.
She drummed her fingers on the table. She was starting to get impatience. She looked at her watch it read 8:30a.m. She had been waiting for thirty minutes and still no Stetler. She had more important things to do than wait from Stetler, so she got up and exited the room. Half way down the hall she ran into Stetler.
"Going somewhere?" He asked
"No" she said turning back toward the direct of 1A. "Feed them whatever they want" Horatio word played in her head.
"Good" he said opening the door of 1A and walking in "Shall we begin?" he looked at her offering a huge grin.
"Sure" she said walking in the room, offering an artificially smiling back.
"Well then let's began"
Horatio sit in his office, accepting the facts. All search options have been exhausted and besides the finding in the car there were no new leads in the search. No trace, no trails, no evidence of where Eric was or who had him. However, he know one thing for sure the Russian mob was involved. He wasn't sure how or what angle they were playing, but he was sure they had Eric. He knew that with the lack of physical evidence someone was holding him and Eric was alive, for now. Horatio was in deep thought when Frank interrupted.
"Hey H, the search team in wrapping up and heading back, so I'm back in the office for the time being. You need me for anything?" Frank said ducking into the office.
Horatio snapping back into reality look at him blankly. He was unsure what it was that Frank had said.
"Sorry Frank, what going on?" he said blink distractedly.
"It's ok, I understand, Horatio. You need me around the office?" He repeated, he was worried about Horatio. He was so distant even more then he normally was.
"Not currently Frank, thanks" he said, still distracted.
"Well then I'm going to look into who's hold Sarnoff body hostage, Natalia is looking into the trace she coll-"
Horatio cut off Frank. "Hostage? Hostage, hostage, hostage, hostage." he repeated over and over, not to Frank, but like he was talking to himself aloud. He pulled out his cell and looked through his missed calls, Frank looked at him confused.
"What is it?" Frank asked a little frustrated for being left out of the loop.
"Frank stay by your phones, tell the call center be on the lookout for a ransom call. I want to be phoned in personal on each call and tell them to setup a trace. I think their holding Eric hostage." He knew it was a long stretch, typical a requested would have made a request by now, but he wasn't going to give in just yet. "Tell all CSI's to have their phone on them at all time and to be waiting for a call."
Horatio got up swiftly and exited the room, leaving confused Frank in his office.
Unlike Stetler's usual tactics he wasted no time beating around the bush, he jump right in with his questions. As he quickly took his seat he bluntly asked "What is your relationship to Eric Delko?"
She barely had entered the room and he was shooting a question at her, she offered him a stunned and confused look.
"Excuse me?" Calleigh replied slightly shaking her head as she took her seat. She was confused at the reasoning for the meeting. Was it about her and Eric relationship? She was expecting it to be about her performance or the shooting and her part in the events that lead to Eric's current situation, not about her personal life or her relationship with Eric.
"Ms. Duquesne, just answer the question" he sighed and waving his hand at her.
"We're –we're colleagues and friends" she stammered "what does this have to do with anything?" she asked still confused at where Stetler was going with this.
Instead of answering her question Stetler stood and pulled out some pictures from a folder and placed them on the table before her. There was a picture of her and Eric sharing a kiss outside the Immigration Detention Center, pictures for them smiling at each other at a crime scene, a picture of them leaving for work in the morning exiting Calleigh's house together holding hands, another of them kissing outside the front door of Eric's apartment.
"Oh and my favorite" he said with a smirk pulling out one more picture. It was in Calleigh's bathroom Calleigh was dressed a robe and Eric had a towel around his waist still wet from the shower, holding Calleigh in his arms. "Would you like to change your answers or do you not remember these?" He asked sarcastically, Calleigh glared at him with fire in her eyes.
"Where did you get these? How did you get these? Are you spying on me?" she felt so exposed "I can't believe this, that you would spy on my personal life" she pointed at him "how dare you? I don't have to account for or explain you what I do off the clock. This is highly unethical, Stetler" she all but yelled.
"Spying on you? Don't flatter yourself, the where and how I got the photo is irrelevant, just know they come from a very legitimate and reliable source and yeah this would be unethical to look into your personal life without a reason," he slowly started to pace the room as he spoke. "You work of the police department, Ms. Duquesne and we have rules, like it or not there rules you have to follow. Obviously you think these rules are just guideline and do whatever you want, which rise the question what other rules do you not follow? What laws, Ms. Duquesne?" He pulled out another set for photos and put them on the table. "Here's my reason" This set was of Calleigh and Eric arguing outside the Crime Lab with Calleigh holding a manila folder in a one hand, another photo of Calleigh opening the folder and revealing a photo of Sharova in a car to Eric and several more photos of the argument as it progressed. "Lover's quarrel or something more?" he asked.
"We were discussing the case" Calleigh said in annoyance in her voice, still on able to believe what was happening.
"Right, discussing 'the case'?" Stetler smiled doing the quotation sign with his finger for dramatic effect pausing from his pacing.
"It looks like" he continue "it look like your withholding evidence, hindering a police investigation and breaking the law" he slightly raised his voice; he started moving around the room once more.
"What?" Calleigh asked disgusted "we were discussing a case, a case we were working on together, I was following protocol"
Stetler laughed "Really," he stopped pacing and bent over the table, his face inches from Calleigh's "is that true? Because looks to me your warning Eric that his dear old Russian mobster dad is involved in the stage accident that take two innocent lives," he glared icily into her eyes and continued "a cop's life, but maybe that's just me?" he whispered in a merciless tone.
"I wasn't WARNING" she yelled, Stetler was starting to get to her, accusing her, accusing her of beings a dirty cop, he made her felt like she was a dirty cop. "I wasn't warning him" she said in a lower smaller voice.
"Then what were you doing, Ms. Duquesne?" Stetler asked in an elevated patronizing tone "If you weren't warning him. What were you doing? Because if you were 'following protocol' upon discovering Sharova's involvement you would have went to Horatio or any other member on the team who doesn't have relations with the accused, you would have had Eric pulled from the case and brought Sharova in. You should know THAT'S protocol."
Calleigh was furious and wanted nothing more than to giving a piece of her mind. She felt the interrogation style had changed from "meeting" with an employee of the department to interrogating a criminal, but she maintained her cool as best as she possibly could and answered him.
"I went to Eric because we were working the case together and I thought he should know. Though he and Sharova are blood related their relationship is nothing more that, he barely knows the man." Tear were wailing up in her eyes and her voice was shaky "He knows the law and he wouldn't break it" she said in a defeated voice, unsure if she even believed her own words. Stetler laughed coldly.
"Maybe that's what you tell yourself, maybe those were you intention, maybe Eric fooled you like he fooled everyone else. Maybe your better judgment was blinded by love and maybe no one really knows Eric Delko. It wouldn't be the first time Horatio had a traitor in the camp."
Calleigh looked at him, now she was truly confused now. He drew back from the table and pulled out a single photo and placed it in front of Calleigh, it was a picture of Eric and Sharova talking on a pier, Sharova was holding a fish pole and Eric was holding a photo, Calleigh's photo she showed him at the lab earlier, her evidence.
"Now were you aware of this?" he asked in a normal almost sympathetic tone.
"No" she said in a barely audible whisper as a single tear ran down her eyes, Stetler had thrown his lowest blow.
Thanks for reading, please review - Quitethefangirl