Chapter Seventy-three: Serious

Delko told Speed to stay home the next day, rest and recover from the beating at the beach. He put up little fight then agreed that it might be a good idea for him to do just that. But as the morning wore on he began to feel more and more anxious. The apartment was a comfortable place as he'd spent a lot of nights in the place with Delko and Calleigh during happier times. Without Mite around, though, he was starting to feel hopeless. He'd grown so used to the dog's company that he kept expecting to turn around and find the shepherd sitting there watching him. He missed those beautiful brown eyes, the sound of dog nails on the tile floor. He felt incomplete without his dog and he feared that he would never see Mite again.

The case had been going nowhere. None of the missing dogs had been located despite the majority of them having been micro chipped. Even he'd taken time to get Mite micro chipped while he was out of state. It made him think that the dogs were most likely being sent overseas under some sort of secret operation. He wanted his dog back, he decided as he placed a cup in the sink. And waiting around the apartment doing nothing was not going to get Mite back.

Slipping on his pair of shoes he walked out the door, making sure to lock it behind him. Outside he began wandering around a bit with no real idea of what he was going to do next, then opted that to swing by the park where he'd last had Mite. Maybe he could recall some missing detail of the night, something that the others wouldn't be able to figure out. He had been there that night; he might find a significant clue that went overlooked. At the least it might jog his memory. He knew that he should have stayed home, stayed locked safely in the apartment like Delko wanted him to but he wouldn't have been able to just sit around waiting for someone to find his best friend had they taken Delko. How could anyone expect him to behave that way when it came to his dog? Mite was there every step of the way, every night when the dreams got bad and when he wasn't sure he wanted to be around anymore, Mite always made him feel better. The dog loved him unconditionally. Mite never cared about his shortcomings and the mistakes he made. Nobody would ever love him the way that Mite did.

When he reached the park he wasn't at all surprised to find part of it roped off with that familiar yellow crime scene tape. What he was surprised to see what Ryan poking around some bushes. A uniformed officer stood a distance away casually flipping through a newspaper. Speed chewed his bottom lip as he weighed his options. He needed to have some inside information if he wanted to get anywhere in finding his dog. But Ryan? The two of them hadn't exactly gotten along well. Sure they were cordial with each other, not overly friendly, merely knew that they had to work side by side.

He decided that Ryan might be the weakest link.

Waiting until he knew the officer wasn't looking and while Ryan was crouched by the bushes he walked briskly across the park, ducked under the tape and stopped at Ryan's side. The startled investigator reached for his gun, then realized who was at his side. A range of emotions crossed his face. His thoughts probably mimicked those of Speed's a few minutes ago.

"Speed, what are you doing here?"

"I need your help," he said. "Please, I need to get Mite back."

"What do you think I'm out here doing?"

Speed shook his head. "You don't understand. Delko, Horatio, neither one of them are going to let me near this case. Hell, I'll probably either be banished to the lab or kept from work entirely. I'm not going to sit idly by while who-knows-what is done to my dog."

"And what exactly do you expect me to do?"

"Help me."

Ryan looked at him for a few seconds not speaking. Once or twice he opened his mouth to say something then closed it before uttering a single word. Finally his shoulders slumped in defeat. "All right, fine, I'll do what I can to help you, though I am not entirely sure what that is going to entail."

"Can you copy the case files for me?" Speed spoke the thought before realizing it.

"Are you serious?" Ryan asked. "That could get me in a lot of trouble, Speed."

"I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important."

"Fine," Ryan sighed. "Where would you like me to put the copies?"

"Call me when you have them."

He peered over the bush to see if the cop was looking in their direction or not. Luck was on his side as the officer was leaning in the window of the cruiser playing with the radio. He stood, making to leave when Ryan grabbed him by the arm. He looked at his fellow investigator, wondering if he could really trust Ryan, then deciding that he didn't have much of a choice.

"You do realize what sort of trouble you could be getting us into, don't you?"

"If you don't want to help you're free to back out," Speed laid the offer out before him. Going alone would be a little harder but if that's the way things had to be done then he would do it. He was actually getting used to doing things on his own.

Ryan was shaking his head. "No, I said that I would help and I plan to do whatever I can. I just wanted to make sure you understood where this could lead."

"I'm fully aware of where this could lead," Speed told him. "I'm tired of sitting around while people try to figure out whether or not I'm capable of doing my job. Don't think I haven't seen the way they look at me, the unspoken questions on their faces. I want my dog and I will get him back. Along the way I'll catch the bastards who took him."

"Horatio is always telling me that you're one hell of an investigator," said Ryan. "I think that I actually look forward to this little….job."

"Good, because there's no telling what's going to happen."