Chapter Fifty-six: Sailing
"Family vacation gone horribly wrong," remarked Ryan as he worked the crime scene with a small flashlight, looking for the tiniest piece of evidence. He still had a lot to learn but had managed to come so far in such a short time. And all the doubts from his first month on the job, all those questions about whether or not he made the right career choice, no longer haunted him during his free time. He liked to work the scenes, to put together the pieces of the puzzle. A lot of the officers that he worked with almost a year ago used to give him crap for being obsessive compulsive and having to make things neat and orderly. In this line of work, that actually proved to be an asset. Where would he be now if not for that chance meeting with Horatio? Would he still be working as an officer, handing out parking tickets and nabbing shoplifters? Or would he have quit and moved onto something else entirely? This is where he belonged, he felt that things worked out the way they did for a reason. The science gave him boundaries. It gave him answers.
The only downside to working this job, though, was all the blood and death, the horrible things that people were willing to do to one another. He would never get over the nasty way that some people liked to shed blood. Bodies torn apart, heads bashed in, bombs exploding, fires turning corpses into charred remains. Every job had a downfall. He just had to learn to deal with it, and he had. Now instead of wondering if he'd made the right career change he spent time thinking about how messed-up life had become. He shouldn't be okay with standing so close to death, comfortable with the remains of a once living and breathing person. But since the others didn't seem to let it bother them, perhaps he should try harder to be more like them.
"This is the one part of living in Florida and working this job that sucks," Calliegh said, coming around the side with an evidence bag, a small dark gray object inside. A bullet. "Happy families come here to enjoy the sun and surf, all the nice things that Florida has to offer. And then, in a few cases, things go terribly wrong and we're picking up the shattered memories."
"Why do we do it?" Ryan asked, plucking at a fiber with a pair of tweezers.
He didn't notice Calleigh shrug. "Somebody has to."
Delko picked that moment to arrive at the scene. Though he was almost fifteen minutes late Ryan wasn't going to say anything. Not because he was walking on eggshells around his teammate but simply because so much shit had happened in the last few months, what with the shooting and Speed leaving. As far as he was concerned, Delko was allowed to have the occasional slip up. This was the man that taught him a lot, that gave him shit when he first started on the job and then warmed up to him, almost considering him a friend. This was also the man that had lost someone dear to him and been shot in the head. Until now Ryan managed to get through the job without any major injuries. The thought of getting shot never strayed far from his thoughts. Guns were a daily part of their job. Speed had been shot, not once but twice. Delko took a bullet to the head. Hagen tried to kill himself in basically the same manner.
Guns caused pain and heartache for his friends, the people he cared about.
They were also the main reason why he had a paycheck.
It made for a delicate balancing act.
Calleigh slipped the evidence bag into her kit. She noticed the look on Delko's face as he settled his own kit on the ground near the boat. "All right, what's on your mind?"
"Who the hell does things like this?" he asked with a shake of his head.
The call came in a short while ago that someone had stumbled across a sailing vessel that washed ashore. Upon further investigation four bodies were found onboard amid a mess of blood; two parents and their teenaged children. There were bullet holes riddling the side of the vessel, but most of the bullets were missing, probably washed away in the ocean. Calleigh and Ryan had already decided the murder occurred before the thunderstorm at two o clock. Mainly because the dead body on the deck was washed clean and there were faint pink traces were the blood slowly washed away with the rain. The ocean would have been rough, the waves sucking the bullets from the boat. At least she got lucky enough to find one of them. Who knew what the little projectile might tell her.
"It's a sad day when a man can't enjoy a good sailing trip with his family," Ryan said. He had moved on, branching out toward the back of the boat, checking the surrounding mix of rocks and sand for anything vital evidence.
Calleigh had shoved aside the job. "Delko, what the hell is bothering you?" She took the expensive camera from his shaking hand before he dropped it. Even Ryan stopped what he was doing, finally noticing the tremor in the hands, the dark cloud over Delko's eyes. Something was definitely up.
"Have either one of you been to the lab?" he inquired. It almost seemed like a stupid question, but then again, this was Miami.
She shook her head. "No. I had a case with Frank that took up a few hours. Then there was the fire at that restaurant that started in the trashcan. After my lunch break, which I just managed to squeeze in, I got the call for this."
"Try tracking down a drug dealer that hasn't been seen for three years," grumbled Ryan. "That took up all my time and that new detective; he's a real pain in the ass. At least you got time for lunch, Cal. I probably won't see food until the end of shift."
"So what's at the lab, Delko?" Calleigh pushed.
He looked her in the eye, wondering how she would take the news. "The one and only Timothy Speedle, sitting in the Trace Lab like he never left."
He took back the camera and headed for the opposite side of the boat. Even as he'd spoken the words, Calleigh saw the pain in his eyes, heard the slight quiver in his voice. A sign of happiness or something more troubling? She looked back over her shoulder to see that Ryan, as usual, had not missed a single thing. Though she herself was happy to hear that Speed was back she couldn't help but feel a sense of fear. Had he managed to escape his demons? Or would he still be trying to find his way through the darkness? And how would having him back affect Delko? How would she feel when she got back to the lab and some him for herself?