Chapter Twenty: Incomplete

He never quite made it back to the lab as he fell to his knees in the drying grass, a migraine coming over him. He forced his eyes closed to block out the harsh light of the sun. It felt like someone was going to town with a jackhammer in his head and he wanted it to go away. Everything else was forgotten as he tried to fight through the pain, as he tried to retain whatever composure he had. And as suddenly as the pain had come on it was gone, almost like it had never been there at all. When he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was Horatio crouched in front of him, fiddling with his sunglasses. He expected his boss to say something, anything about what was going on but Horatio surprised him. He handed Speed his sunglasses then stood, offering his hand in assistance. Speed was grateful for the protection the shades gave him as he grab hold of Horatio's hand and got back on his feet. The tremor in his hand was gone, another thing to be grateful for. Without a word shared between them they started back toward the lab. He was surprised that Horatio didn't lecture him or offer advice. But there were other things, more important things to worry about so he let it slip. As they entered the lab it was like nothing had happened, people going about their jobs as though they'd never been interrupted to begin with. He trailed after Horatio, reluctant to join the others in the meeting for fear that they would read something on his face. He fiddled with Horatio's glasses while thinking of giving them back. Then he figured he'd keep them, let the others see that he had them. Maybe it would send a message to Delko.

Horatio held open the door for him. This time they were meeting in an empty interrogation room. Quite a few people had probably gone to the break room to get a drink or have a late lunch. The schedule would be messed up for the rest of the afternoon. He knew almost immediately when Delko noticed the sunglasses. Instead of feeling good about it he found himself filled with regret and anger. Why was he doing this to someone he considered his best friend? He looked away, ashamed to make eye contact with Delko, and saw the box sitting atop the table unopened. Calleigh was sitting at the table with Jake and Alexx while Delko went to join Ryan and Frank in the corner. He decided to remain standing where he was as he watched Horatio walk over to the box. Deemed not a threat it was okay for them to open it; which is exactly what Horatio did. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see what was inside.

Only after slipping on a pair of gloves did Horatio reach into the box. The first thing he pulled out was a piece of skin. "That's the militia tattoo," Speed said as he caught a glimpse of the ink. "None of our victims were missing their tattoo."

"Which means that we may have an unknown somewhere," Horatio said as he slipped the skin into a bag provided by Calleigh. "I want DNA testing done on that as soon as possible."

Next he pulled out a less than tasteful rendition of an officer lying on the ground covered in blood, his hands bound behind him. The medium looked to be a mix between charcoal and pastels. This was also slipped into a bag and marked for testing; hopefully for fingerprints. Horatio also wanted someone to go through the police database to see if the officer in the picture matched anyone on the force. Ryan said he would do it since he'd been a uniform not too long ago.

The last thing he withdrew from the box was a gun, a nine millimeter handgun, standard issue for the police. Almost instantly he realized that there was a smear of blood on the gun. He looked at Ryan. "Your job just got more important. It looks as though we have a missing officer. I want a report sent out that there's an officer down, everyone should be on alert."

Something had been bugging Speed since he walked into the room. And now the nagging had been kicked up a notch. He looked around at the others to see if they might have been experiencing the same thing. That's when it hit him. "Hey guys, where's Hagen?"

Horatio turned to Alexx. She shrugged. "He spent all morning down in the morgue with me. We chatted for a while but then he got…the process bothered him so he said he'd sit on the other side of the door. About an hour before the alarm went off he poked his head in, said that a call had come in and he had to leave."

He turned to Frank next. The sergeant looked just as baffled. "I don't know anything about a call. A few speeding tickets might have been handed out around that time but there was no major emergency. I would have contacted you guys if there was."

"So we have to assume that whoever called Hagen is the person that took him," Horatio mused as he pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed the detective's number. They all waited in silence to see if anyone picked up on the other end. But as expected, no one did. "Put out an all points bulletin. Detective Hagen is MIA and presumed hurt. I need this gun taken to Valera to have the blood tested so that we can confirm that it belongs to him."

As soon as the weapon had been slipped into a clear plastic evidence bag Speed took hold of it. He left the room before the others because he didn't want to get left alone with Horatio or Delko. Judging by the identical looks on their faces they were both thinking about him and how close they'd come to losing him. He didn't want to be reminded once again of his own mortality. And he didn't want the others thinking about him, they needed to concentrate on finding the detective before it was too late. As he headed toward the DNA Lab he noticed that the tremor in his right hand had returned once again.