After checking her Glock 9mm and the pistol that she carried in an ankle holster a hundred times or more, Calleigh decided that she was ready. Taking one last glance around Horatio's office she steeled herself with the belief that the next time she returned here, they would have Horatio back with them.
Even though every fibre of her being was screaming to get out of the lab and look for him she couldn't quite resist the need to stay in Horatio's office for a few moments longer, as if committing to memory the layout and design of the room should the worst happen and he did not make it back.
No, you can't think like that, she told herself. We're bringing him back. Alive.
Just as she was about to leave the office she heard the familiar ringtone of her phone singing at her, its jaunty tune somewhat out of place in the tense atmosphere.
"I'm just about to head out now, what have you got, Frank?"
"I've got a damn headache and a sore ear, that's what I've got!" the gruff Texan groused as he audibly sighed down the line.
"My damn cell phone has been going crazy since Eric put the word out about arranging a search party. Our office has been fielding calls for the last hour and a half, I've got officers coming in on their days off, guys from the nightshift, hell, even some recently retired cops are pouring in through the doors of the department."
"Frank, you didn't have to do that. I know manpower and resources are tight for you down there. The Captain will have your head when your men put in for the overtime."
"That's the point, Cal, I didn't ask any of them to come in, they volunteered. I've got a hundred or more officers here willing to search all day and night and they've done it off their own backs. I've got sheriffs from all the local towns offering their deputies, search and rescue organisations, the lot. You name it, we've got it."
"But why? How did word get around so quick?"
"Some of them heard it in the department; they told their buddies who told their buddies what was happening and yadda, yadda, yadda. You get where I'm going with this."
"I do," Calleigh smiled as she spoke. It was little wonder that so many people were volunteering their services in the search; Horatio had touched the lives of so many people during his time in Miami and have never once asked for anything in return from them. It warmed her heart to think that so many people held the Lieutenant in such high regard that they would give up their own time to help and try to find him.
Now that the number of people involved in the search had greatly increased it gave Calleigh a renewed sense of hope that they would find Horatio before it was too late. Searching a such a large radius of land would have been next to impossible with only a handful of people, now that they had over a hundred officers and volunteers at their disposal it would cut the search time down considerably.
"Can I leave you to organise the search teams, Frank?" she asked as she held the cell phone to her ear by bending her head to one side so that it rested between her ear and her shoulder, checking her service weapon one last time.
"I'm on it, Cal. Get yourself out to the lake; I'll send you coordinates for your designated search area when you get there."
Taking a final look around Horatio's office, she closed the door, only to be stopped by a clearly panicked Ryan who was running towards her.
"Cal, wait up. I have to tell you something," he said as he stopped, leaning his hands on his knees as he attempted to catch his breath.
"I've haven't got time now, Ryan. I need to be out there at the lake," she responded as she tried to walk past him but stopped as he held a hand up.
"That's what I came to tell you," he gasped between taking huge lungful's of air. "My Hummer's gone and so has Kyle."
"What?!"
"We were in the break room earlier, he told me he was feeling thirsty and asked me to get him a can of soda from the machine. The damn kid must have lifted my keys from my jacket whilst I was out of the room!"
"When was the last time you saw him, Ryan?" she asked, dreading the answer. In a department-issued Hummer, Kyle would have easy access to the vehicle's on-board navigation and radio systems. It was likely that he'd heard the search being organised and had already made his way towards Lake Okeechobee. The boy had at least an hour's head-start on the rest of them, she needed to find him, and fast.
"Contact dispatch and get a BOLO out on your Hummer and get a trace on the vehicle's GPS. Ride with Natalia and track him down, when you find him I want you to arrest him. Is that understood?"
"Cal, that's a little harsh, don't you think?"
Anything Ryan might have said after that was silenced by the fierce glare Calleigh was giving him which made him shrink back almost visibly. "Understood, Calleigh. Natalia and I will head out now; we'll let you know when we've got him."
"Did you do it?" Gianni Malucci asked as he took a long swig of the bottle of beer in his hand, regarding his cousin with an amused expression.
"I did. The results were…..interesting."
"You got our associate to take the shot?"
"I did. You were right, he's a fine marksman. Put the bullet right between the eyes so I've been told."
"They didn't see it coming?" Gianni grinned as he lit a cigar and blew out mouthfuls of smoke.
"The element of surprise was definitely on our side. It seemed to have the desired effect on Mr Kelly."
"Good, it'll make our final game so much more fun, don't you think?"
"Indeed, cousin. It will," Danny smiled as he took a swig from his own beer and settled back in the comfy leather chair, listening as the sounds of the broken man in the other room slowly faded away into whispers and then silence.
The two Malucci men sat back, enjoying their beers and cigars for an hour or more before the amiable silence in the room was broken by Danny's cell phone buzzing. He picked it up from the table and looked at the display.
"What is it, Sal?"
"We've got a problem. Looks like the cops are on their way down to you, they've got enough people to start a small army. I think you guys need to get out of there and get a head start, you've got maybe two hours tops before they'll be on you."
Danny snapped the phone shut and placed it back in his pocket, "Gather the men, it's time to move out," he told his cousin sharply.
Gianni looked at him with almost child-like disappointment, "But we haven't finished what we had planned for him."
"It can wait until we get on the boat; we need to get out of here before they find us."
"Can we at least have a little fun with him before we go?"
"Do what you like, Gianni. Just make sure you have him in the van when we're ready to leave. I'm going to get everything loaded, meet me there in fifteen minutes."
He heard the door open slowly and winced as bright light filled the room, he stole a look at the men entering the room with the one eye that wasn't swollen shut. He let his head fall back down to his chest, they had already ripped his heart out by taking away his son, whatever else they had planned for him would never hurt him as much as the loss of his boy could.
He felt the ropes around his wrists being loosened, a while ago he might have tried to put up a fight, there was simply no point now. He felt his arms being pulled and grunted at the pain that flashed through his left arm and shoulder as he was positioned on shaky feet. It had been so long since he'd been in a standing position that it hurt to feel the blood flow back down and through his lower extremities, his legs shaking as they struggled to hold his weight.
"Look at me, Detective Kelly," the voice of Gianni Malucci commanded.
His captor grew tired as he kept his head hung low, Gianni mistaking his lack of movement as a sign of defiance.
"Drop him," the voice commanded.
He could see the dirty, cold floor rushing up to meet him but was powerless to stop himself sinking to the ground in an undignified heap. As the men shouted commands at him to move he continued to lay there, unmoving. He saw the boots of his captor moving closer towards him.
"You know, it's always so much more fun when they scream." Gianni sounded almost disappointed as he commanded his men to pick the fallen man up from the floor and hold him in place.
"It's been a while since I've been to the gym; I think I need to get a little practice in."
The blows to his body and face barely registered as the men held him tightly in place, the pain of flesh and bone being beaten and broken was nothing compared to the pain that lanced through his heart at the thought of his son being killed because of him.
Soon enough, the arms holding him upright let go and he once again found himself falling to the floor as kicks rained down on his back, chest and legs. It seemed like they kicked at him and spat on him for hours, until finally they stopped.
He felt his arms being pulled and let out a half-hearted moan at the pain in his left side as his arms were bound again, this time in front of him. He felt himself being half-lifted and half-dragged from the room, watching in an almost detached fashion the cold floor beneath him as his feet dragged across it.
He felt the pain in his legs as the fabric of his trousers slowly wore away as he continued to be dragged from the building he had been held in. The harsh heat of the Miami sun felt painful on his tender and abused skin but he was not made to suffer it for long as he felt himself being hauled into the back of a van and dumped heavily onto its floor.
He lay there as the boots of at least six men joined him in the rear of the vehicle; they laughed and taunted him as he lay unmoving. Some dared him to get up and fight like a man but he ignored them, he simply had no fight left in him.