The Road to Nowhere, or is it?
Horatio, finished with the paperwork stacked on his desk thought he would visit the ballistics lab to check on Calleigh and perhaps practice with a few rounds in the gun range, just to see if his injury would be affected by the recoil. It seemed to him that Frank may not find this Antero guy anytime soon and he was really getting bored sitting in his office waiting to hear good news.
"Knock, knock," Horatio softly said as he stood in the doorway, but did not see Calleigh anywhere. Horatio thought, oh well, she must be off in another area of the police department because if she left the building she would have told me. I had told her of the thugs' threat the other night and I cautioned her to be more careful. Come to think about it, maybe I ought to consider making her ride with me after all…that way I can protect her. Hmm… something I will consider as I shoot a few rounds.
Unsheathing his .40 Cal Sig Sauer from its holster on his belt, Horatio was ready for the test in the indoor mini range. Unknown to him, Calleigh had entered the ballistics lab just after he had donned the ear protectors. She was curious as well to see how firing his weapon would affect his injury, although she knew this is not what Dr. Woodall would have recommended him do after such a short time, but she knew she couldn't stop him from finding out for himself.
BAM! Horatio squeezed off the first round and almost at the same time, doubled over in blinding pain from the recoil of the gun. The pain shot from his left shoulder to his ribs and down into his abdomen like a bolt of lightning. Calleigh slung the papers she was holding over onto a table as she ran to Horatio to steady him on his feet.
"HORATIO…" she screamed as she ran to his right side.
"Cal…seems…that…was…a…little too much…too soon, huh?" He managed to weakly say as he felt her arms wrap around him and help him to a nearby bench.
"Handsome…do I need to get Tom down here to check you out?" Calleigh asked as she noticed Horatio was still quivering from the pain.
"I don't…think…that will…be necessary Sweetheart, just…let me sit here…um…for a minute," he said as he leaned back against the wall.
"Your .40 Cal is just going to be a little too much right now Horatio…what about a 9mm? There would be less recoil from that caliber."
"Might need to do that, Sweetheart until these ribs heal and the pain is gone from my abdomen and shoulder," he replied to her suggestion.
"There is a nice Sig 9mm in the vault…let me get it for you." Horatio gave her a weak smile in appreciation.
Bringing the weapon out she added, "Besides…you are not going out in the field anyway…it's just to keep you from feeling naked," Calleigh said predicting his response in her mind.
"Who says…I'm not going out on a call?"
"HORATIO CAINE…you know the doctor did not intend for you to do field work…he didn't even say you could come to the lab at all…let the team do the legwork for a while, until you at least allow yourself a few days of healing!"
Horatio smiled at his wife and asked, "What if…I allow my right-hand lady to come with me?"
"I thought I was banished from riding with the superhero," Calleigh said playfully, "So, you have seen the error of your ways, Lieutenant?" smiling in response.
"Cal, I still think it is dangerous, but with the threat from those thugs, I want to protect you so, I just thought it was a no win situation and I'd rather be with you."
Suddenly Horatio's phone alerted him to a call and he quickly answered, "Caine."
"Great…see you in a few minutes my friend."
Horatio smiled at Calleigh and said, "Frank found Anthony Antero and has brought him in for questioning. Want to come with me?"
She smiled and responded, "Wouldn't miss it…maybe we can pin more evidence on Vogel finally. I will observe through the one-way glass though since Frank will be in there with you."
Horatio eased up from the bench and took Calleigh's hand in his right and they headed toward the elevator to take them upstairs to the interrogation room.
Horatio had summoned a technician to be present to take fingerprints, trace and DNA samples from Antero so they can possibly place him at the murder scene.
As he entered, Antero was seated at a table in the center of the room with Frank standing behind him. Horatio said nothing as he walked to the windows and actually seemed to be disinterested in the man at the table.
Antero spoke up after a couple of minutes and sarcastically said, "Well, if you two bozos don't have anything to ask me…I will just be going," and as he attempted to stand, Frank placed one of his big hands on the man's left shoulder and shoved him back down in the chair saying, "Sit your butt back down…we are not done yet, in fact we're just getting started." Frank then looked over at Horatio knowing better than to question his intentions in front of a suspect.
Then the door of the interrogation room opened and Horatio said, "Alan, collect the evidence off of Anthony here please," without turning around.
The technician first opened a package of sterile swabs and picked up one of the man's hands and began swabbing under the man's fingernails, a location where GSR might be found after several days as washing usually doesn't affect residue left there, and on top of his hands.
"Hey," Antero alarmingly said, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"We are collecting GSR trace from your hands Antero and also Alan here will swab your cheek for DNA. Then he will take your fingerprints to match them to your record," Horatio said now that he had turned toward Antero and stared intensely at the suspect.
"Where were you last Monday afternoon Anthony?" Horatio asked shifting his feet to where he had to glance to his right side to see the man.
Antero took his time answering, "Around."
Horatio smiled sarcastically and curtly said, "Where?"
"I can't remember pig…been too long. Hey you don't look so good pig…having a hard day?"
Horatio kept his cool and answered, "Maybe a murder charge will help you remember?"
"You ain't got nothing on me for any murder!"
"What about a fingerprint Anthony?"
"Hey I want a lawyer…I'm not answering any more questions 'til I get a lawyer!"
Horatio abruptly answered, "Too bad yours is in lockup!" Then turned and walked to the door and told Frank to keep their friend on ice for a while.
Once out in the hallway, Horatio tried to take deep breaths to help relieve his anger, but had to endure the pain that went along with that effort.
Walking down the hall, to be out of sight of Antero, Horatio leaned against the wall as Calleigh approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder and softly asked, "You ok Handsome?"
"I'm fine Sweetheart…just doing my breathing exercises like the doctor ordered. You know unless he pops positive from the tests, we can't place Antero at the murder scene. The print on the bullet is only a partial, but hopefully Eric will be able to work miracles in the morning and match Antero's to the partial print good enough to stand up in court."
Suddenly they heard a patrolman say as he approached them from behind, "Lieutenant? I have a Linda Perkins here that claims she saw a man get shot outside an apartment building last Monday afternoon where she was visiting a friend. Can you talk to her now?"
Calleigh looked at Horatio and said, "Maybe we will have a miracle today!"
Horatio asked for the patrolman to escort Miss Perkins to his office and he would meet her there.
"Sweetheart…would you come with me?"
"I sure would Handsome!"
As they interviewed the young lady, both Calleigh and he seemed convinced that she was telling the truth.
Horatio asked, "Miss Perkins, would you be willing to look at a lineup of men to tell us if one of them is the man you saw last Monday?"
Timidly she answered, "Yes…if they won't be able to see me."
"They will not see you at all Miss Perkins, give us a few minutes to set it up please."
Calleigh began quietly explaining the procedure to the girl as Horatio called Frank to start the process.
About 30 minutes later, as Horatio, Calleigh and Linda stood in a room looking through a large glass window into the adjoining room, the men began filing in. After stopping, each man stepped forward as their number was called and stood separate from the others to give her a better view. Horatio noticed she scanned all of the men and looked very intensely at each one as they stepped forward. When Antero stepped out of the line, she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.
"Miss Perkins…is he the man you saw Monday outside of the apartments?" Horatio optimistically asked.
"Yes, I am positive he is the one…I remember he looked up after he shot the man and went through the man's pockets."
Horatio then asked, "Do you think he saw you Miss Perkins?"
"No, he did not act as if he did and the windows are dark tinted to help block out the heat so I don't believe he did."
Horatio called Frank and asked him to take Antero back to the interrogation room and he would be there in a minute.
"What do I do now?" The young lady asked.
Horatio gave her his card and asked that she call him if anything else happened and that she would be contacted by someone from the State's Attorney General's Office soon. Thanking her he motioned for a patrolman to escort her to the front desk.
Calleigh walked up to Horatio and smiled and said, "This could be the break we need, now if Antero will give Vogel up…"
Horatio smiled and responded, "I hope he will, Sweetheart. I'm about to go charge him with murder so, that should shake him up. Wait for me and I will take you to lunch!"
"You've got a date Handsome!"
Horatio entered the room where Frank was again standing behind Antero at the table.
"Hey pig…I got things to do…can I go now?" Antero said as he sneered at Horatio.
Horatio looked up from the floor with a smile on his lips and his hands on waist and took great pleasure of telling him, "Antony Antero, you are under arrest for murder." Suddenly Antero leaped from the chair and jumped toward Horatio and before Frank could grab him, the criminal swung at Horatio with his fist and almost made contact, but Horatio kept his footing, wincing at the sudden movement he had to make to avoid the impact.
Calleigh watched the incident from the other room and was grateful the perp didn't make contact with Horatio, but she knew the sudden move gave him tremendous pain.
Frank pushed the man down face first on the table and cuffed him then two patrol officers entered and escorted the angry man from the room as he cursed Horatio.
Horatio smiled as the man was led away, hiding his pain until they were gone.
"Horatio…you ok man?" Frank asked.
"I'm ok Frank…was worth a little pain to get that scum off the streets! I just have to watch those quick moves," Horatio answered as he held his side.
"Frank, get a search warrant for Antero's house and car...if we find the Talbot's personal effects in Antero's possession, we can bump the charge up to capital murder."
"On it now H," Frank answered.
Calleigh ran into the room to be sure Horatio was ok. "Handsome...," Horatio heard as Calleigh entered, "Are you alright?" She asked as she stepped close to him.
"I'm fine Cal...I'm fine, what about...we go get us some lunch?"
"That sounds good to me."
After he and Calleigh arrived back at the lab after their lunch, Horatio told her that he would be back later saying he wanted to go to the detention center to inform Vogel that he had his man and that he could look forward to more charges at his arraignment.
"Be careful Handsome…come by the ballistics lab and tell me about your visit when you get back, ok?"
"I will," then quickly scanning the area around them and finding no one was watching, he hugged and kissed her quickly.
As Horatio walked into the room, where Vogel was seated with handcuffs on his wrists, he could literally feel the heat of anger from the man at the table.
"What have I done to warrant this most unpleasant visit from you Caine?" Vogel spat out sarcastically.
"Well, Vogel…I have a bit of news for you. We have one of your trained dogs in jail at the moment on murder charges…and I am sure he will tell us all about the one who ordered him to murder a one Lance Talbot last Monday." Horatio smiled at the man and then added, "Does it feel like everything is collapsing on you Vogel?"
"Oh no Lieutenant…the best is yet to come!" Vogel said with a sick smile on his face.
Horatio leaned down closer to Vogel so the guard could not hear and said, "By the time I'm through with you, you will be buried so deep in the justice system, you won't be able to have any visitors."
Vogel just laughed heartily at Horatio's threat and only said, "Enjoy your days Lieutenant…we just never know how many we have left!"
"Is that a threat against a police officer Mr. Vogel?" Horatio inquired loud enough for the guard to hear and drew his attention from his position at the door.
"Oh no, no, no Lieutenant," Vogel proclaimed, shaking his head as he smirked, "…just a suggestion we all need to keep in mind actually. By the way, I have heard that you and your new bride are planning to adopt a pair of children…I do hope all goes well with that endeavor and I hope you are feeling better before then."
Horatio's face froze in a hard stare at the man seated at the table and growled, "That…that is none of your concern. Guard, I am finished with this scumbag…get him out of my sight."
As Vogel was being led out of the room he turned and said, "We must do this again Lieutenant…have a good day."
Horatio suddenly felt like he was going to be sick.
TBC...