Chapter Sixty-eight: See Right Through You
Calleigh pulled the Hummer up to the curb while Horatio acted a little more recklessly, driving up over the curb and into the lawn with the two front tires. At the same time they climbed out, meeting around the front of Horatio's vehicle. The area looked undisturbed, silent, as though nobody happened to be in the area. A trickle of fear ran down Calleigh's spine as she pulled her revolver free of the holster. She looked at her boss, reading the worry on his face. They were most likely thinking the same thing, in their line of work it could be hard to think of a happy outcome. Especially when the city was still reeling from the cop killer a few months ago. That's something that took a lot of time to overcome. Unfortunately, Calleigh heard a few tales about cops getting a tad too rough with suspects. She hated to think that another cop killer might be on the loose.
"Where's the officer?" she asked. "He was here when I dropped off Delko."
"There was a call about a domestic disturbance," Horatio said, looking over the place for any sign of things amiss. Of course, the whole house and property looked to be out of place in the city of Miami. "Perhaps he thought the boys were perfectly safe out here in the middle of nowhere so he responded to the call. He might have been the closest officer."
She shook her head. "This isn't the middle of nowhere, H, it's smack dab in the middle of Creepsville."
Horatio started for the house, gun ready, Calleigh right behind. "This smells like a set-up."
"I was just thinking that," she agreed, sweeping her revolver over the overgrown bushes as they drew closer to the abandoned house. "That domestic disturbance call was probably a diversion, get the cop away from here so that someone could waltz right in. But why steal the Hummer and leave it parked on the side of the street?"
"Low-jack," Horatio provided the answer. "We should have left the Hummer where we found it. Panic may have cost us evidence."
He couldn't see it but she was smiling like the Cheshire cat. "Guess it's a good thing this gal wore a pair of gloves. Any fingerprints on the steering wheel should still be there."
"That's my girl," he said, placing a foot on the first creaky wooden step leading to the front door. The sound seemed to echo rather loudly in the otherwise silence. Both of them froze, neither of them breathing as they waited to see what happened. Somewhere inside came the sound of more creaking wood. A second later Delko stumbled into the open doorway, startling Horatio who spotted him first. In the next instant he was holstering his gun and up the stairs to check on his friend. "Are you okay? Where's Speed?"
"I…" Delko shook his head. "He…"
Horatio spotted a bit of blood by Delko's ear when he shook his head in confusion. Placing a hand on Delko's shoulder he prompted the injured man to sit, then crouched to get a better look at the wound. There was a deal of blood but it didn't look to be too serious. "What happened?"
After another moment Delko began talking, explaining how he had Calleigh drop him off for the call. He said that he could smell the familiar aroma of a decomposing body but upon searching the first floor and the basement they failed to find it, even though the smell got really strong toward the kitchen. He then recounted how a sound brought them out of the basement to find the kits missing and then things went down hill from their. When they realized that the cop was gone and Hummer missing they started worrying. They were making a plan about what to do next when two guys seemed to materialize out of nowhere. There was a bit of arguing about Mite and the guys got mad.
"The guy in charge must have decided to…." Delko shrugged. He touched the bloody spot on his head. "I think I may have been popped with the butt of a revolver. I distinctly remember seeing Speed getting hit that way. I figured he would be in the same room when I came to but….he's not there."
"Is he perhaps somewhere else in the house?" hazarded Calleigh.
Delko shrugged again, this time wincing in pain the slightest bit. "I came to a few minutes ago, heard you guys talking, figured I would work my way toward the front door. Haven't exactly gone searching the house."
Horatio stood, pulling his gun out of his holster for the second time that day. He instructed Calleigh to call for some back-up and to stay with Delko. He wanted both of them to be on alert. Then, with a sinking feeling that was becoming all too familiar, he ventured into the old, musty and rotting smelling house. He went through every room on the first floor, walking carefully through the room with spots of fresh blood on the floor. The fact that there was such a small amount of blood gave him some hope that things would turn out okay. Finding nothing in the basement left him with a mixture of relief and growing worry. He was happy Speed hadn't been dumped somewhere but until he found his friend there was no getting rid of that awful feeling.
Hearing the wail of sirens in the distance drawing ever nearer, he left the first floor for the second, testing the stability of the landing before slowly making his way down the hall. He checked every room, his hope of finding Speed diminishing with every empty room. The further down the hall he went the weaker the floor grew. The boards groaned loudly, protesting the sudden weight. It was the only sound in the house. Despite all attempts he was beginning to think of the place like the setting of a horror movie. The weak sunlight streaming through bare branches of a dead tree created odd shadows on the rotting floor.
With one last room to check he edged around the doorway. Holstering his weapon he moved into the room. He crouched beside Speed who was just starting to come around. The floor groaned loudly. He felt a shift that sent off a warning bell in his brain.
"H…" grumbled Speed, a hand going to the cut on his head.
"Tell me later," Horatio said. He gripped Speed under his arms, ready to pull him toward the door. "We need to get out of here."
But little know to Horatio the floor in the room was one of the weakest spots in the entire house. Speed's weight had added too much stress to the already weakened boards, the moldy wood developing cracks. The sudden additional weight of Horatio worsened the problem, proving to be too much for the old wood. With one final loud groan the floor gave away under them.
-------------------------------------------------------
Speed slipped the key into the lock, turning it, then pushing open the door. Much as he expected the place showed signs of having been rooted through. He figured out back in the house that the guys looking for Mite would have already searched his apartment. Good thing he got smart that morning and asked a neighbor to watch the shepherd. It happened to work out even better that she lived one floor up from him. They'd met in the laundry room shortly after he moved in and had a weird friendship since then. He felt awkward asking her to watch his dog but she jumped at the chance to be helpful. Now he realized that what seemed like a good idea could have turned out horribly. If the guys searching for Mite had found him in that apartment they probably would have killed the girl. He felt sick as he settled on the sofa. He could have gotten someone killed because of his dog.
He had entertained the thought of taking Mite out of state and finding him a new home but he'd grown attached to the dog. If he could help it he didn't want to part ways with his friend. He loved Mite.
Someone knocked on the apartment door. He made the attempt to get up but the simple movement sent pain through his body. Should anyone ever suggest to him that falling one story wasn't all that bad he would have another thing to tell them. His head hurt from the pistol whipping and had been aggravated by landing on broken wooden boards and the first floor. There were multiple bruises all over his body, a few minor cuts. The paramedic went down a cautious route, putting his left wrist in a brace claiming that the sprain was pretty severe. Horatio ended up with the same amount of bruises and minor cuts, twisting his ankle. He figured they were lucky. They could have been pierced by a sharp piece of wood, a rust nail.
A second knock broke him out of his thoughts.
"Come in," he said, deciding to remain on the couch.
The door opened and Mite came bolting into the apartment, tail wagging. He stopped just short of jumping on Speed sensing that something was wrong with his master. A heartbeat later Delko closed the door. "I came across the woman in the hall, said I would be happy to return your dog. Smart idea, by the way, ditching him somewhere they wouldn't think to look."
"Yeah….except I could have gotten her killed."
Delko remained standing. "Speed, I…will you come home with me?"
Caught off guard Speed looked at him. "What?"
"I don't want you here alone," he explained. "Please…you and Mite are more than welcome to stay with me."
Speed bit his bottom lip, absentmindedly scratching Mite between the ears. He was trying to think of a plausible reason for not leaving his apartment, afraid of what might happen if he went home with Delko. A lie started to come together, he turned his eyes to Delko but never got the chance to speak.
"Tell me any lie you want, Timothy Speedle," Delko said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "But I can see the truth written clearly on your face. Come on, I'll help you pack a bag."
.