Keeping his foot firmly on the accelerator, Eric drove frantically from the rural surroundings of Lake Okeechobee and back towards the Freeway. He kept his gaze focused on the road ahead of him, drowning out the sounds of the radio and numerous patrol cars following behind him. His mind was centred on one thing, cutting the van off before the Malucci's found their way onto a boat.
Andy took a deep breath and tried to hold on to the contents of his stomach as Eric took a sharp left turn at high speed, grabbing at the door handle to steady himself.
"Jeez, kid. You're not going to help anyone if you cause a ten-car pileup. Ease up a bit."
The Cuban kept his eyes firmly on the road as he swerved in and out of traffic, ignoring the rude gestures and the angry honking of horns that his actions created.
"We have to cut that van off. If they get on a boat and into international waters then we'll have no jurisdiction."
"I understand that, but driving like a maniac is not going to help us. Besides, that burger that I ate earlier is really doing a number on me. You really don't want me ralphing in the Hummer do you?"
Andy held his sizeable stomach as if to emphasize his point and smiled as Eric eased off the gas a little.
"Boss, the patrol car is still on our tail and he's gaining. What do you want us to do?"
Danny Malucci glanced in the rear view mirror before turning back towards the driver. "Slow down a moment, I'll take care of it."
Rolling down the window on the passenger side of the van, Danny leant out and carefully aimed his gun at the tyres of the patrol car. It took several shots but soon had the desired effect when the car span out of control and ended up on its roof, wheels still spinning. He spied two uniformed officers crawling out from the wreckage and took a moment to consider if it was worth shooting them too.
Changing his mind, he rolled the window back up and placed the weapon back on the seat next to him.
The van began to slow further as the driver pulled into the entrance to the Coral Springs boat harbour.
"We're here, boss."
He said nothing as he exited the vehicle and banged on the rear door, signalling for Gianni and the other men to follow suit. As the door opened and the men filed out, Danny took a look at the sorry figure lying bound on the floor of the vehicle and smirked before commanding his associates to bring their prisoner with them.
He felt himself being pulled from the van by his ankles and was unable to stop himself from falling into the cold, wet grass as his body fell to the ground. Voices ordered him to get up but he was unable to, he felt two sets of arms grab him by each side and drag him along towards the docks, his feet bumping over rough stones and steps as the men made their way towards the water.
He didn't even try to lift his head this time, wherever they were taking him, he knew it would be his final resting place and he just hoped that whatever they had in store for him that it would at least be quick.
It felt as if he had been dragged along forever, the pain in his left arm increasing with each second that one of his captors gripped onto it. He had almost become used to the pain, it became tolerable over the aching in his heart when he thought of the innocent boy that his torturers had slaughtered.
A large boat eventually came into view and he could feel himself being lifted towards it as the men holding him climbed the ramp before he was unceremoniously dropped to the wooden deck, falling face-first.
"Where should we put him?"
"Below deck, make sure he's secure before you leave him."
Calleigh could not believe her luck, of all the days to get stuck in a traffic jam; this had to be by far the worst time. Honking on her horn and slamming her hands down on the steering wheel did little to relieve the feeling of utter frustration that was threatening to overwhelm her. Stuck in a five-mile long tailback in rush-hour traffic was not where she needed to be right now, the longer she spent stuck here, the more time the Malucci's had to make their escape.
The radio once more crackled into life.
"Calleigh, it's Eric. What's your ETA at Coral Springs?"
"I'm stuck in traffic on the Causeway, how about you?"
"We're about ten minutes out. Looks like they got to the patrol car that was tailing them, we've just seen the wreckage on the side of the road."
"Just get there, Eric. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Take a right on 56th and pass through that way, hopefully you'll be able to cut most of the traffic out," Eric suggested.
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me; I drove these routes all the time when I was towing. It'll get you to the harbour in about fifteen minutes."
"Quit glaring at me, Kyle. I'm just doing my job." Ryan grumbled as he took another look in the rear view mirror of his Hummer, wincing as the young man handcuffed to the rear door scowled at him again.
"You're wasting your time holding me prisoner, if it wasn't for you I could have caught up with them by now."
"No, you could have got yourself and your father killed if you went after them alone."
Natalia jumped in to try to ease the tension between the two men, "Kyle, I know that you're worried about Horatio but running off on a suicide mission isn't going to help him. You need to trust us to do our jobs."
"Why the hell should I trust someone like, Wolfe? I've heard the rumours about him, I'm surprised my father trusts you to shine his shoes, let alone have his back!"
Ryan gripped the steering wheel tighter as he felt a flash of anger surge through his veins. He had long been the subject of many rumours within the department due to his extra-curricular activities and his poor judgement when it came to being fooled by beautiful women.
When something went wrong in the team the suspicion often fell on him and usually with good reason, but the one person who had never lost faith in him was Horatio. It hurt, at first, when the lieutenant only called him by his surname and never his first name. For a long time he struggled to understand why the redhead kept him at arms-length and distanced himself from him.
It became a bone of contention with he and Eric, on a subconscious level he knew that he was jealous of the Cuban's close relationship with their leader and had often longed for some of that friendly camaraderie that they shared. He often felt like a naughty school boy being chided by his headmaster as time and again he found himself in the middle of one indiscretion or another.
He had almost given up hope of ever gaining the trust of Horatio until one night many years ago; he got a call that would change his life and his relationship with the lieutenant forever.
Flashback. Miami 2008:
After a long and tiresome day at the lab Ryan had just settled into bed when his phone began vibrating loudly on the wooden bedside table. Throwing out a hand, he eventually grasped the offending object and brought it to his ear, still struggling to open his eyes.
"Yeah, Wolfe."
"Mr Wolfe, sorry to disturb you at this hour."
He immediately sat up straighter in his bed, pushing the covers off his body as his mind became more alert at the sound of the lieutenant's voice.
"What's up, H?"
"There's something that I need to discuss with you, but not over the phone. The matter is…..delicate. Would you be able to meet me in an hour?"
He rubbed a weary hand over his face, "Sure. Tell me where to meet you."
Just under an hour later, Ryan found himself standing outside an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the run-down shipping district, shuffling his weight from foot to foot as he waited for the redhead to arrive. He visibly jumped when he heard the smoky voice emanating from somewhere close.
"Thank you for coming, Mr Wolfe."
He tried, and failed, to locate where Horatio's voice was coming from. "What's with all the cloak and dagger stuff, H?"
It was then that he saw a shaft of light illuminate one side of his colleague's face as he stood side-on, gazing into the distance.
"The situation with Ron Saris is…coming to a head."
"Yeah, I know. I heard him making threats on your life, are we going to take him down?"
"All in good time, Mr Wolfe. All in good time."
His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look at the other man, confused as to why he was being called out here in the middle of the night.
"What's this about?" he asked, starting to become uneasy.
"I have a task for you; you're the only one that I can trust to get the job done. Will you do that for me, Mr Wolfe?"
The admission took him by surprise, astonished that the man in front of him actually trusted him. Horatio had given him chance after chance and each time he had let him down, either by making a foolish mistake or being naïve enough to be taken in by the advances of a beautiful woman. There should be no way that Horatio would ever trust him to do anything, let alone have his back.
Whether he wanted to believe it or not, Horatio was asking him for something that he felt he couldn't ask of those closest to him on the team. Time and again, Ryan had let his boss down and yet the man still stood by him and took him back each time as his indiscretions piled up, one on top of the other. Horatio had protected him and asked of nothing in return, until now.
He swallowed nervously as he asked, "What do you need me to do?"
He grabbed onto the side of the metal container he was standing in front of as his brain struggled to process Horatio's request of him. He'd been privy to a number of his lieutenant's cunning plans to bring down his enemies but this one was by far the craziest he had ever heard.
"H…I'm not sure I can do that," he said as he tried to regain a little composure.
"I realise that I am asking a great deal of you, Mr Wolfe, but this has to look real. You're the only one that I can trust to do what needs to be done."
"But why me? Why not Calleigh or Eric?"
"Because I have faith in you, Ryan. I trust you to do the right thing."
It occurred to him then that it was perhaps the first time that Horatio had called him by his first name. Gone was the master and apprentice façade, replaced by two men standing as equals, alone in the deserted area.
If ever there were a time to repay the faith that Horatio had showed in him, it was now. He opened his mouth to say something before quickly realising that the other man had gone, vanished back into the night like some ethereal presence.
He'd always wondered how the other man managed to do it, appearing out of nowhere with feline-like grace and speed with barely a sound being made. It had certainly been the downfall of many a criminal during his years on the team, so many had underestimated the guile of the wily lieutenant and it had proved to be their biggest mistake.
What Horatio was asking of him was immense, he wasn't sure he had the skill or the nerve to pull it off. He needed that sense of conviction that the redhead had, that ability to do what needed to be done, no matter the cost to him.
Horatio had trusted him, divulged his plans to the younger man and placed his faith in him. If ever there were a time to repay the belief that Horatio had showed in him, it was now.
Present day. Miami:
"Ryan?"
"Ryan, are you listening to me?"
Turning to face his passenger, he realised that he hadn't been listening to a word she had said in the last few minutes.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"We're nearly there, Ryan. We're about five miles out but that weather does not look good."
He followed Natalia's finger as she pointed out the windscreen, you didn't need to be a meteorologist to know that a storm was coming in and that it was heading straight for Coral Springs.