Note: Okay, I'll post a few more chapters, see how things go.
Chapter Seven: Everybody
As Delko walked into the crime lab the next day he was fully aware that it was going to be a hard day to get through. Mainly because Speed wouldn't be there. He didn't want to see the questions in the eyes of his fellow lab rats. And he really didn't want to speak with his boss. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of the chance he'd missed out on. He thought about the note he left at Speed's apartment. There was a chance that it would never get read because there was a chance Speed wouldn't be coming back from New York. That thought sent a sharp pain coursing through his chest. What would he do if he never saw Speed? How would he function from day to day if he lost the one person that meant the world to him? It had been hard enough to work every day without him, only seeing him after hours. He walked into the locker room and sat heavily on the bench. Speed's locker was right next to his. He reached out, running his fingers over the name plate screwed to the door. Would Speed be back to use it?
"Delko," Ryan said, standing in the doorway. "Horatio wants to talk to all of us."
"I'll be there in a minute," he responded, smiling half heartedly.
"All right," Ryan said before he left.
Delko stood, his eyes on Speed's locker, his mind consumed with thoughts of his fellow scientist. But he quickly banished them as he headed out of the locker room to find the others. There was work to focus on and if all worked out the days would pass quickly and Speed would be back before he knew it. Now was the time to completely immerse himself in everything that was his job. His hands in his pockets, he made it to the meeting at the same time as Cooper, surprised to see that the audio-visual tech had been summoned too. Then he walked into the room and saw everyone there; Frank, Calleigh, Jake, Alexx, Valera, Ryan, Cooper, and Horatio. Something must have been up, something important.
"As you all know," Horatio started after Delko closed the door, "the mayor was good friends with the family recently murdered. I have talked with him nearly every hour of every day since the case broke. Try as I might to explain to him that evidence can't be rushed he's started pressuring us again, this time with threats to cut our funding." There was a hint of an amused smile on Horatio's face. "He has so generously given us forty-eight hours to find the perp and close the case."
"That's not enough time," Calleigh protested. "We're a CSI short, for one thing."
"What about the car accident?" Jake asked out of honest curiosity.
"Back burner. The cops will continue to search for the van but the evidence will have to wait until another time," Horatio explained. "I'm not any happier than the rest of you but this lab cannot afford to lose funding. So from here on out, whatever new cases come in, set them aside. All of our focus is on this butchered family. Cooper, there isn't much AV in this crime at the moment, do you think you can pick up the slack somewhere else, maybe tag along with Ryan or Delko?"
"Sure thing," Cooper answered.
"Calleigh, I need you to give me everything and anything you can find out about the murder weapons. Alexx, the bodies, where are we with that?"
The medical examiner looked solemn. "The little girl is next. The mother died from a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet pretty much turned her brain to mush."
"Keep me up to date," Horatio said. Then he was looking at Valera. "Any DNA that they bring in, run it immediately."
"Got it," she said.
"Frank, I want you to accompany the boys back to the crime scene. After the accident yesterday and the shooting I don't want to take any chances. It looks like somebody might be out there gunning for us."
A minute later the room was empty. Calleigh disappeared into the gun locker to work with the bullets recovered at the scene. Valera and Alexx went back to their respective places in the lab. Horatio went with Detective Berkeley to interview family friends again while the rest of the crew headed back to the murder house.
--
The crime scene tape danced in the breeze that heralded an oncoming storm. Delko looked toward the sky in dismay. He hated getting caught in the rain when he was working a crime scene. The rain washed away some evidence and compromised more. He hoped that someone had been out to board up the broken back windows. Once inside the smell of the days old blood hit them full force and judging by the look on Cooper's face it wasn't a pleasant scent. Delko tried to look like nothing was bothering him as he headed toward the living room, the main focus in the murder. He set his kit down on the floor at the end of the entrance hall.
"Cooper, I want you to go upstairs with Ryan, search all of the bedrooms top to bottom," he instructed as he looked toward the garage. He vaguely remembered Calleigh saying something about it before the shooting started. A glance back over his shoulder he said, "And don't forget your gloves, Cooper."
Grabbing his kit he headed toward the garage, Frank a few steps behind him. They always tried to stay in teams of two or within earshot of each other in case a place wasn't clear or something else dangerous happened; like finding a bomb or a meth lab. Delko didn't believe he would find either one in this particular house but it was nice to have Frank with him after what happened last time. He quickly filled Frank in, explaining how Calleigh had been in the garage before the shooting and how they'd completely forgotten about the place in the confusion afterward. Nobody had been back to the scene since. As he walked toward the partially opened garage door he took notice of the tiny amount of blood on the wall and the droplets on the floor. He told Frank to watch where he stepped. Something about the blood patterns didn't seem right to him, almost like they could have been made by the killer. He'd make sure to get multiple samples. With the toe of his shoe he nudged open the door.
Sitting in one corner, a chain allowing him to move only so far, was a dog.
"You guys left a dog at the crime scene?" Frank said.
"I didn't know the family had a dog. He's not in any of the pictures and I don't recall seeing a bowl on the floor in the kitchen," Delko answered. Then he thought out loud. "Why would a family, with kids, keep a dog locked in the garage and treat it as though it wasn't a member of the family?"
"Maybe the dog doesn't belong to them."
Delko edged toward the now whimpering dog. "If he belonged to the killer then why leave him behind?"
The only answer Frank could come up with was a shrug. As Delko got closer to the dog, which was now wagging his tail, he noticed that there was blood on the dog's fur and some around his muzzle. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if the blood in the hallway had come from someone bit by the dog. It seemed friendly enough but that didn't mean anything. He edged closer, holding his left hand out in front him, his fingers forming a fist like he'd been taught all those years ago. The dog strained against its chain to sniff him. They were mere inches away from each other when the sound of someone running filled the room. A second later Ryan burst through the door.
"We have to get everyone out of here," he said. "There's a gas leak. I've already called the gas company but we still need to get the fuck out."
"Well you don't have to tell me twice," Frank answered, heading toward the door.
Delko shook his head. "Not without the dog."
"Delko…"
"I'm not leaving him here to die," Delko snapped. He decided that it was a now or never kind of moment. He moved fast, grabbing the excited and scared dog by the collar and unsnapping the chain that kept him confined to the corner. Before he headed toward the door he registered the fact that there was no bed, no food bowls, not even a drop of water for the dog. With the dog's collar in one hand and his kit in the other he followed Ryan and Frank out of the house. Cooper was leaning against one of the Hummers. As soon as they were a safe distance away from the house Ryan turned on Delko.
"That was stupid," he yelled. "You could have been blown up or bit or something."
Delko just glared at him. "When everybody gets out of the house that means everybody."
"Guys…" muttered Cooper.
"Reckless behavior will get you killed," argued Ryan.
"I'm sorry if I can't leave a poor defenseless dog inside a gas-filled house to die," snapped Delko.
"Guys…"
"He's going to end up at the pound anyway," shrugged off Ryan.
"At least that gives him a chance to find a new home," said Delko.
"Guys…."
"What?" Delko and Ryan snapped in unison as they both looked at Cooper.
The AV tech swallowed nervously. "I just think that maybe we should leave. Something doesn't feel right. I mean…the air, it feels almost heavy."
"The dog's pretty nervous," Frank noticed, nodding at the dog. The pooch had his tail tucked between his legs and he was whining, pushing against Delko's leg. They all looked at the house. That was when Delko realized that it was too quiet. He didn't hear the sound of birds chirping and the wind had suddenly disappeared. It sent a chill racing down his spine. Perhaps it was intuition, it could have been anything, but whatever it was he knew that he had to seek cover so he took the dog around to the other side of the Hummer, the others following him.
A minute later the house exploded, debris and glass flying everywhere. Afterward they would find that a sharp piece of wood had pierced the side of the Hummer, its path cutting directly through the spot where Ryan and Delko had been arguing. They both would have been killed almost instantly.