Here's today's second chapter, I will be returning to posting one chapter a day from tomorrow onwards:

Present day. New York:

Andy stubbed the cigarette out as he regarded the man opposite him, "That was John Kelly's last day as a cop. He was arrested and stripped of his shield and gun."

"What happened? Did he go to trial?"

The large man laughed bitterly, "Seems the Malucci's wanted to protect their investment, I heard they paid a high price attorney to get him off on a technicality. It was obvious they'd turned him."

"How so?"

"Kelly was a good cop, a great cop. Every time we thought we had the Malucci's they would end up wriggling out of it. We'd raid warehouses we were sure were full of coke and heroin only to find them empty. They were always one step ahead of us, Kelly used to leave little clues just to taunt us."

Eric lent back on his chair, trying to process the information he had heard. The man Andy Sipowicz knew couldn't be Horatio Caine. The questions he asked only lead back to even more questions, right now the man lying in hospital in Miami had no idea what he had done. Heeding the doctor's words he knew he had to convince Andy to come to Miami, hopefully seeing a familiar face would jog Horatio's memory. "Come back to Miami with me."

The statement took Andy by surprise, "Why the hell would I want to do that?"

"Because it seems like we all need some answers and the only person who can answer them is him." Eric replied, stabbing his finger down on the photo lying on the coffee table.

He reached for another cigarette, "What good would that do? John was a dirty cop, end of story."

"Please, just think about it." Eric scribbled down his details on a piece of paper and handed it to the other man before leaving.

Pulling up outside his apartment building in Queens, he exited the car and locked it. Just as he was about to walk across the street to buy a six pack of beer he was tackled from behind. The air rushed from his lungs as he was forced to the ground by a heavy-set balding thug, he groaned in pain as he was kicked repeatedly in the stomach and chest. Before he knew it he was hauled to his feet, the thug sneered at him as two of his buddies held him up by his arms. Truth be told he was grateful for their support as he knew as soon as they let go that he would fall back down to the ground in a heap. "That all you got?" he smirked in a deliberate attempt to rile the thugs, "You hit like my grandma," he taunted them, he was rewarded with two vicious punches to the face.

"Shut up and listen, Red. Frankie and Benny have a proposition for you."

He knew he was in serious trouble but he couldn't help goading the thugs, "Sorry, my dance card's full. Maybe next time, sweet pea?" He sagged as the head thug punched him hard in the stomach.

"They want you to know, they've got eyes on you, your ex-wife and that pretty blonde thing you've been seeing for the last few months. We wouldn't want anything to happen to those lovely ladies now, would we?"

His blood boiled, giving him a beating was one thing but threatening the people he loved was crossing way over the line. "Stay the hell away from them," he growled as he spat blood from his mouth.

"Frankie thinks you might need a bit of persuading."

"Screw you," he shot back as he spat a mouthful of blood at the goon standing in front of him. It occurred to him some time later that perhaps it wasn't the best move. The thugs set upon him with a vengeance, soon they let go of his arms as he fell once more to the ground. Kicks rained down on him in an almost rhythmical fashion, he saw a boot come flying towards his face. His last thought before losing consciousness was to do all he could to keep his loved ones safe.

He woke with a start, finding himself back in the hospital room. His vision was still blurry but he could make out the outline of the blonde woman, he couldn't work out why she kept visiting. It seemed like she was sitting by his side each time he woke up, it irritated him that he had no idea who she was.

She heard his gasp, folding the paper she was reading she leaned over and placed a hand in his arm. She noticed his still-swollen eyes were open, "You're awake, it looked like you were having a bad dream. I was going to wake you."

He turned his head to her and squinted, disappointed when he couldn't get the image of her to sharpen. He raised a shaky hand to his face and rubbed at his jaw. "What time is it?"

She looked at her watch; "Nearly 6pm, you missed dinner." she smiled softly at him.

He grimaced at the thought of hospital food, remembering the time he visited Andy after he was shot. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe it hadn't been a dream afterall but a memory from his still unclear past.

She saw the emotions flicker across his face, "What is it?" Her concern grew at his shell-shocked look.

"I think….I think I might have remembered something."

She smiled, "That's great news, tell me what you remember." She couldn't help the feeling of excitement that flowed through her, her heart raced at thought of him returning to normal.

Staring at the ceiling he tried to put the pieces together in his mind, his dream was so vivid and yet it seemed so out of place with his other memories. He knew of the Malucci family but why had they come after him? Try as he might he couldn't remember anything past the beating they gave him, what had happened after that? "Nothing much," he sounded bitterly disappointed, "Just a few bits and pieces but none of it makes sense. I remember a name, Malucci." He balled his hands in to fists and glared up at the ceiling, Calleigh couldn't supress the small smile at his typically 'Horatio' actions. It gave her hope that the man she had come to know and love so much was still in there, deep down.

She was about to say something she hoped would be reassuring when her phone began to ring; she fished it out of her purse and answered it. "Duquesne."

"Calleigh. It's me, Eric."

She was so glad to hear his voice; the threatening emails that had been sent to the lab had unnerved her more than she would care to admit. At times like this she would turn to Horatio for help, with him out of commission it was down to her and Eric to solve this mystery before anyone else got hurt. She made her excuses and left the hospital room, shutting the door behind her. "Did you manage to find him?" She was eager to hear his news and prayed that he had better luck than she had.

"Yeah, I found John Kelly's old partner."

"And?" she pressed, desperate for details.

"It's not good, Calleigh. The partner reckons he was a dirty cop, working for some crime family in New York."

"That doesn't sound like Horatio."

"I know, that's what I thought. I showed him H's photo, he says they can't be the same person."

"Why, how can he be sure?"

He sighed, not wanting Calleigh to be any more worried than she already was. "He told me they found his body under the Brooklyn Bridge back in 90's."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, "That's impossible, there has to be some kind of mistake."

"That's what I told him but he doesn't seem to want to believe it, I asked him to come to Miami to see for himself but he said no."

Calleigh glanced across the room and saw an orderly walking towards Horatio's room; she paid him no mind and returned her attention to Eric. "He has to, Eric. We're getting nowhere fast here; I got another email warning us to back off," she blew out a frustrated breath, "How can we protect Horatio when we don't even know what we're up against?"

There was no time to wait for Eric's answer as she heard a crashing noise and shouting coming from Horatio's hospital room. She thanked God that she was armed as she ran across the waiting room, gun drawn. Kicking the door open she shouted, "Freeze, MDPD!"

Please note: The use of italics was deliberate so as to signify a dream sequence.