Chapter Fifty-eight: Bye-Bye

"You can't hold me," she said with a sneer. "I know my rights. You don't have any evidence or you'd be charging me. And unless you charge me, you have no right to keep me here."

"That's true," Horatio responded. "You are free to go anytime that you like, but be forewarned, if you left even the smallest scrap of evidence behind my team will find it and you'll find yourself behind bars."

With a muttered As If and another sneer the woman stalked out of the interrogation room, Horatio watching her as she left. The case of robbery wasn't that big a case since nothing amounting to thousands of dollars was stolen and no one had lost their life. Still, the case came across his desk and the lab had a reputation to keep. Even the seemingly insignificant cases had a right to be solved. The more cases he marked 'closed' the happier he would be when retirement came around. Walking down the hall toward his office he thought about the path that life had taken him on. He always strived to be a good cop, to do the best that he could. When the rumors started after his brother's death that his brother was a bad cop, he notched up his work ethic. Let the officers think what they would about his brother, he knew the truth. They all might remember his brother as the cop that messed up but when he was gone he wanted to be remembered for all his hard work, for all the victims that he managed to help. All those people could sleep easier at night because of him. And yet, with everything going for him, there loomed a darkness around the corner, ever present, always waiting to pounce when the best moment presented itself.

He was about to enter his office when Delko came around the corner. He tried to read the look on the young man's face, failing to pick up even the slightest clue as to how Delko felt about having Speed back in town and working at the lab. "Do you have something on the robbery?"

"Nope," he said with a shake of his head for added emphasis. "Actually, Tripp just called. Ryan is busy going over the scene with Jesup to see if maybe we did miss something. Calleigh and Tim are at a new crime scene. Thought maybe I'd see if you wanted to tag along since I was headed that way myself."

"Speed's working the field?" Horatio asked in genuine surprise.

Delko nodded. "Guess Calleigh asked him if he was interested when the call came up, and he must have decided to go along."

"Then so shall I," said Horatio as he fell into step beside him.

He let Delko slip behind the wheel because he wasn't sure concentrating on the road would actually work for him at that moment. All he could think about was the idea of Speed out in the field. They had not talked last night or that morning about him venturing beyond the lab. And though Horatio was not mad that Speed felt comfortable enough to take the next step in his job he did wonder if it was a good idea or if it would turn out to be a step made too soon. The other thing taking up a lot of his thinking time was the way that Delko referred to Speed. He couldn't recall the last time that he'd heard Delko refer to Speed by his given name. It upset him but was still completely understandable. There were going to be a lot of uncomfortable days, a lot of bumps and potholes to overcome before the relationships in the lab returned to their formal glory, if ever. There were a million and one questions that he wanted to ask Delko but figured that it would be more appropriate to wait until a later time, perhaps after shift. He could ask Delko into his office and they could have a good heart to heart, see how his friend was coping with having Speed back in the lab, back in his life. As far as he knew, nothing about Delko's feelings had changed.

They eventually pulled up outside a house set back a little from the road. A large expanse of green with vivid blooming flowers welcomed them as they drove slowly down the brick driveway. They parked alongside another department vehicle and behind a patrol car. Speed was outside poking through the landscaping for any trace of the criminal. Calleigh was nowhere in sight, probably having gone into the house. They split ways near the front door, Delko venturing into the house to find Calleigh and see how things were going on her end. Horatio decided to help Speed go over the outside of the house. While they worked Speed filled him in on the crime; the murder of a husband and wife. He wasn't sure if anything was stolen or what might have been the motive aside from the family seemed to have a lot of money.

After roughly twenty minutes the officer on the scene came racing out of the house, said something about having to take another call. Horatio let the man go, watching him drive rather destructively through the yard in order to get around the two Hummers. He just shook his head, then returned to work. No sooner had the officer left than things began to fall apart. Horatio was working on the other side of the house, a ways away from Speed, the other two still busy covering the interior of the house. He was busy checking a rock bed for the likes of cigarette butts or other things the killer might have dropped when he felt the familiar presence of a gun pointed at his back. Ever so slowly he turned to look over his shoulder. An unidentified man stood there, gun in hand, pointed at Horatio.

"Give me your gun," the man ordered.

Horatio did as he was told, removing the revolver from his holster and placing it on the ground. The man grabbed the gun, slipping it into the waistband of his jeans.

"Get down on the ground, on your stomach," was his next order. "Don't make me have to shoot you."

Again, Horatio did as he was instructed, worried more about the safety of the others than for himself. Once on the ground the man pulled something from the back pocket of his jeans and began to bind Horatio's wrists. Fortunately for Horatio the man seemed to be in a rush and didn't do a thorough job, leaving the binding lose. Thinking he was free to go, the man left Horatio lying in the grass and went looking for whatever it was that he'd come for.

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Speed had just finished dusting a windowsill for prints when he looked up to see a man he didn't know pointing a gun in his direction. He froze, not sure what to do, a multitude of thoughts racing through his mind. Instinctively he put his hands up, not even bothering to reach for the gun on his hip, knowing that one wrong move could very well be the end of him. He'd been down this road before; it was one that he traveled rather regularly, though somewhat reluctantly.

But before the unknown assailant could make any demands or a move Horatio came out of nowhere. Speed watched as his boss jumped the gun-toting maniac from behind. Caught surprised the man pulled the trigger.

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Calleigh held up the dish on the floor. "They have a dog."

"All the evidence points that way," Delko agreed. "Leash by the door. Bone on the living room floor. The bowls here in the kitchen. The only thing missing is the dog."

"Think that's what the murderer stole?" inquired Calleigh as she set the bowl down and stood. "Seems kind of harsh to murder a family for a dog."

"Stranger things have happened," pointed out Delko.

Before Calleigh could respond they both heard the all too familiar sound of gunfire coming from the front yard. Without wasting another minute they went racing from the kitchen, drawing their weapons as they ran, all the while afraid of what might be going on.

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He put a hand to his cheek and came away with blood. The bullet grazed him. Between Horatio forcing the gunman's arm up and his own attempt at ducking he'd missed taking what would probably have been a lethal shot to the head. From where he sat, leaning against the house, he watched as Horatio and the unknown man wrestled on the ground, the gun a few feet away and another one merely inches out of reach. He tried to process the thoughts as they went racing through his mind, tried to formulate a plan. He should be up on his feet, gun in hand in order to help Horatio but for some reason he couldn't rise to his feet.

Delko came racing out the front door, gun pointed toward the two guys rolling around on the ground. He shouted, his voice loud and clear. The assailant realized his mistake and bolted. Without a second thought Delko took off in foot pursuit. A mere step behind him Calleigh said something about following in one of the Hummer's, jumping behind the wheel of the nearest one. In a flash they were gone, almost like they had never been there.

"Are you okay, Speed?" Horatio asked, pushing himself to a sitting position.

Looking toward the fading lights of the Hummer he responded, nodding his head, "Just a scratch."

"Good."

Speed turned to look at his boss and finally got the boost he needed to get him on his feet. "You're bleeding." He made it across the small space between them, falling to his knees by Horatio. There was blood on his boss's shirt a little ways below the ribcage on his left side. "Did he shoot you?"

"No, turns out he had a knife," Horatio replied. He slowly and carefully removed his suit jacket and used it to apply extra pressure to the bleeding wound.

"We need to get you to the hospital," Speed said, his voice on the edge, a clear sign that he was close to falling apart. He stood, whirling around toward the driveway. "I need your keys."

Horatio looked at him. "Delko drove."

If possible Speed got even paler and a tremor showed up in his hand. "I…I don't have any keys. Calleigh wanted to drive so I let her…"