Author: Um...I haven't the time at the moment so would someone be nice enough to help me out? I simply want to know if I explained anything about where Speed went when he left or the source of the cut on his wrist. Thanks!

Chapter Sixty-seven: Up Against the Wall

Calleigh sipped from her bottle of water, the day surprisingly hot for late autumn. She loved the state of Florida but sometimes the heat got to her, just like it did to everyone else. She was looking forward to the cooler days when working crime scenes outside didn't mean standing under the hot, beating rays of the sun. It also gave her the opportunity to break out her fall wardrobe. She may have spent the majority of her days dealing with blood and crime and guns but she was still a woman at heart.

"Calleigh," Horatio said, breaking the silence that had been hanging comfortably over the interior of the Hummer. They were heading back toward the lab after processing the scene of a car accident. According to the lieutenant it looked pretty cut and dry on what happened but he still wanted to see what the evidence had to say.

"Yes?"

He pointed to something out her window. They were currently stopped at an intersection. "Do my eyes betray me or is that one of our company Hummers?"

"Looks like it," she confirmed, wondering where this was going.

"So tell me what they're doing out here," Horatio flipped on his blinker. "I don't recall hearing a call for this location. I think we should see what's going on. Up for a side trip?"

She smiled slyly. "Sure."

Horatio took the turn, cruising slowly down the road, looking around at the scenery. There were some low rent apartments above businesses that looked like they could go either way. A mother with her two children walked down the sidewalk. Further down the road came the sound of music, a group of people enjoying the weather, having some sort of celebration. None of that really mattered to Horatio as much as the presence of the Hummer. He hated to think that one of his investigators was up to no good, doing improper things while on the clock. He pulled up behind the Hummer. Without speaking the two of them climbed out, approaching the other vehicle with a touch of caution.

"Huh," Calleigh murmured when she peered through the passenger side window. "The keys are still in the ignition."

"That isn't right," Horatio countered. He went around the front, placing a hand on the hood. "Still slightly warm. It hasn't been sitting here too long."

Calleigh pulled open the passenger door. "Are you getting a bad feeling about this, H? I mean, none of us are irresponsible enough to leave the keys in the ignition of a company car." She was about to close the door when she caught a whiff of something familiar. Horatio must have seen something in the look on her face because he was soon standing beside her, a comforting presence.

"What is it, Call?"

"The faint aroma of Speed's aftershave."

"You know the smell of his aftershave?"

She shrugged. "A girl notices those kinds of things. What's his vehicle doing out here instead of being at that house? Everything looked fine when I dropped Delko off. The officer even waved from his location. I don't….understand."

"Looks like we'll be making a detour on our way to the lab, Call. You take this ride," he said, heading back to their original ride. "I'll follow."

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Speed looked to Delko trying to figure out what the hell was going to happen. What could they do? How could the situation have gone from a simple crime scene to something like this? Why did it seem like bad luck followed him around? The silence of the house would have been pleasant, no longer creepy but it didn't look like things were going to return to the mundane. They had been looking around the house thinking that maybe they were standing in the wrong decaying room. But their kits were nowhere to be found, and they still couldn't locate the source of the decomp. It was Delko's idea to venture outside, have a word with the officer on the scene because he should know what the hell is going on. Only, when they stepped out onto the creaky wooden front steps things got worse.

The officer was gone.

As was his patrol car. And the lab's Hummer.

That was when they knew that something was terribly amiss. Speed was making the move for his cell phone when everything that remained fell apart. He still couldn't quite figure out what happened or how the events led to them standing in the decaying dining room with guns pointed in their direction. He was standing with his back pressed against one wall while Delko was against the far wall. The two men holding the guns wore the clichéd black ski masks, way too uncomfortable for the weather of Miami. After all this time Speed was beginning to think that having a gun pointed in his direction was normal. He fully expected some form of panic attack to descend upon him at any moment and drive the situation to a new level. Yet he may have felt the panicky flutter in his heart but he somehow managed to keep his cool. Perhaps he was well on the way to returning to the man he used to be, the man that all his friends longed for him to be once again.

The men pressed the barrel of his gun into Speed's chest within centimeters of the old scar. "Where's the dog?"

"What dog?"

"You know what dog I'm talking about," the man snapped. "Tell me where the fucking dog is and I'll let you live."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Speed muttered.

"The shepherd," the man snarled, moving the gun to Speed's head. "I want the shepherd."

"He doesn't have that dog anymore," Delko suddenly spoke up, only to have the man watching him shift the position of his gun. He promptly shut up. But Speed took that simple sentence and ran with it.

He nodded his head. "Listen to him. I gave up the shepherd. Gave him to a family with kids. My job didn't allow me the proper amount of time to care for him."

"You're lying."

"No," he shook his head. "On the honor of my badge. I don't have him anymore. He went to his new family this morning. Please…"

"Give me their address."

He shrugged, shaking his head. "I can't, I don't know what it is. They came to my apartment to get him. Didn't bother to leave an address or phone number. Please…I don't have him anymore."

"What do we do now?" the other gunman inquired.

The man holding up Speed appeared to be the leader. He looked from Speed to Delko and back again. Then he smiled, though it looked wrong with the ski mask. "Well, I guess we clean up this mess, after all, we can't let them go telling anyone about us and this little….event, now can we?"