Miami. Present day:
Andy rubbed a weary hand over his face, "Laura moved on, John."
"I see," he responded quietly as he kept his gaze on the coffee mug.
"She ended up marrying that doctor she was seeing."
"Dr Danny?" Horatio sneered, recalling the smug paediatrician.
"Yeah, they had a couple of kids together and then divorced a few years later."
Was it wrong to feel happy that Lori's second marriage had failed just like the first? Even after they had broken up all he really wanted was for Lori to be happy, it hurt that he couldn't be the man to do that for her but he felt a small sense of satisfaction that Danny Schrager hadn't been able to either, he hadn't liked the man since he'd first set eyes on him. His heart ached with an almost physical pain to know that the woman he once loved so dearly had given life to that smug doctor's children. When he had met the young, ambitious lawyer he had fallen head over heels in love with her, as soon he had set eyes on Lori he knew he would marry her and dreamt of her giving birth to his children, making a family and a home together.
His thoughts returned the other woman he had cared for so deeply and had apparently left behind without a word of explanation. "What about Robin?"
Andy sighed heavily, he had hoped that John wouldn't ask him what had happened to her, more guilt was not what the younger man needed right now. Pushing the desire to protect his friend's feelings aside he chose to be honest. "She didn't take your betrayal well, John. She never got over you, things didn't end well."
Flashback. New York 1996:
Andy had a strange feeling of déjà vu as he stood outside the door to Robin's opulent penthouse apartment in Upper Manhattan; even from the hallway the panoramic views of the city were breath-taking. Steeling his courage he took a few moments to gather himself before knocking firmly on the door. After a few moments the door creaked open and he came face to face with Robin's tearful visage.
"Robin, if this is a bad time I can come back later," he offered, hoping that she would take him up on it so he could distance himself. Tending to emotional women had never been his forte.
She shook her head as she dabbed at her eyes, "No, please come in, Andy." She stepped aside and allowed him to enter, "Can I get you something to drink?"
"I'm good, thanks."
She sat in her favourite leather armchair, it had been the one John used to sit in when he stayed over, taking a deep breath she felt as if she could almost breathe in his essence as if he had only just been sitting there mere moments ago. "Have you found out who killed John?" she asked quietly.
He cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly on the couch he had perched on, "That's what I came here to talk to you about. We didn't have many leads to go on in the first place and the ones we did have didn't go anywhere. I came to let you know that the trail has gone cold and we're dropping the case." He braced himself for her reaction and kept his gaze firmly averted from hers.
"You can't do that, someone murdered him! You have to find out who did this to him!"
"There's nothing else we can do, Robin. I'm sorry." He was still too angry with his former partner to care about whether his killers were brought to justice but common decency kept him from telling her that, she was just another innocent victim left in the wake of John's betrayal.
Against his better judgement he glanced up as their eyes met, he squeezed his shut as he remembered she had that same look upon her face after he broke the news of John's death several weeks ago.
Bobby killed the engine and turned to look at him, "I can go up and do this on my own if you want."
He shook his head and took a deep breath, still in a state of shock from the gruesome discovery earlier that morning. "No, I should be the one to do it. It'll be a bit easier on her hearing it from someone she knows."
His partner shrugged his shoulders and followed him to the steps of the expensive apartment building nodding his thanks to the doorman who allowed them entry, making sure their badges were clearly on show.
Together he and Bobby stood in the elevator and waited as it took them to the fourteenth floor, "It must cost a bomb to rent an apartment here," his partner mused as he looked around.
"It costs even more to buy," he responded absent-mindedly as he fiddled with anything on his person that he could turn his attention to, he was not looking forward to delivering the news of John's death to Robin.
"I don't get it," Bobby said as he ran a finger over the solid gold rail that lined the elevator, "If I was banging a chick as loaded as this one seems to be why be on the take with a bunch of lowlifes like the Malucci's? If it were me I'd definitely know which side my bread was buttered."
He was still reeling from their shock discovery this morning and reacted to his partner's flippant remark with characteristic anger. "Shut your mouth, Bobby, before I knock you on your ass."
The younger man bristled at his tone, "Why do you care? Kelly was on the take, maybe he got what he deserved."
"Maybe, but Robin is innocent in all of this, try to treat her with a bit of respect and decency."
Bobby shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and followed his partner from the elevator to the front door of Robin Wirkus' apartment. Andy knocked on the door and waited for an answer, he didn't need to open his mouth as the look on his face said it all.
"You're here about John, aren't you?" Robin asked as she tried to keep her voice level and her hands from shaking.
He avoided giving her a direct answer, "Would it be ok if we came in, Robin?"
Nodding, she stood back and motioned them in, asking as she closed the door, "Has something happened to him, has he been arrested again?"
"Maybe you should sit down, Robin." He had no idea how to break the news to her.
The meaning of those unspoken words began to sink in; Andy was here to deliver bad news to her. She sat down on the edge of the couch and looked up at her guests, "He's dead, isn't he?"
Bobby answered before his partner had a chance to open his mouth, "It appears that way Miss Wirkus, we found his body this morning."
"Where?" she asked quietly.
"Down by the Brooklyn Bridge," Bobby responded neutrally.
"Are you sure it's him?"
"The remains were…damaged. The personal effects found with the body confirm the ID as that of John Kelly. I'm sorry, Miss Wirkus."
"Did he…..did he suffer?"
At that point he seemed to regain his awareness, he took over from Bobby as he answered, "He's with the M.E, we're waiting to get the results back about cause of death."
"Can I see him?"
He tried to be as gentle and sensitive as he could, "That's not a good idea, Robin. You need to remember him as he used to be."
"Do you know who did this to him?"
"We've got a few ideas; we're running down leads as we speak." He hesitated before continuing, "You know John was connected to the Malucci crime organisation, this is going to be splashed across the news for the next few days, and I thought you would prefer hearing the news from us."
"I do, thank you, Andy." Robin continued to perch precariously close to the edge of the couch as if at any moment she would topple over. "Please find who did this to him."
Adjusting the jacket of his suit he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We'll do our best."
Present day. Miami:
"Robin never managed to move on, John. In 2000 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was terminal, she died about nine months later." Andy heard the other man gasp, "Don't go blaming yourself for that too, there was nothing anyone could have done."
"I should have been there to support her."
"Well, you weren't." He winced himself at the tone of his voice, he took a breath and tried again. "Things happen, John. Life moved on without you."
Suddenly he felt as if the walls were beginning to close in around him, the latest scraps of information he was being thrown were swirling around in his mind like a tornado. His fight or flight response took over as the redhead scurried from his chair and bolted to the lounge, leaving his former partner standing dumfounded in the kitchen.
"John, wait!" he called as he pushed himself up from his chair, using the kitchen table for support.
Gianni Malucci stood next to his black SUV, the time had finally arrived to strike and seek vengeance on the man who had torn his family apart and left him fatherless for the last eighteen years of his life. Checking that his gun was loaded with ammunition he nodded silently to his men to advance from their position towards the house. The element of surprise would be on their side; no doubt the police would not expect an attack from them in broad daylight. They were fools for underestimating the Malucci's and the first to pay for that folly would be the man who had betrayed his father and uncle. Justice would not be swift but he promised himself he would make it merciless for the man that double-crossed his family.