"You know they won't give us Collins, Danny."
"I know. Still, it didn't hurt to ask."
"Why?" Gianni asked as he looked out over the choppy waters off the coast of Miami.
"Why what, cousin?"
"Why ask them for Collins when they don't know where he is?"
He considered the question for a few moments, "I like that blonde woman, she's…feisty. I can't help but get a kick out of watching her spin her wheels. It'll make it all the more fun to hear her reaction when we blow the boat and her beloved redhead sky-high."
The younger Malucci let out a smug laugh. "The bomb is in place, you've set it up to blow?"
"Yes. Seems that thug Fuentes managed to keep his mouth shut about the secondary device he built us. It's been primed for remote detonation."
"When are you planning to set it off?"
"As soon as we've made our escape, I'm tempted to tell our man at the wheel to slow down a little to give Mr Kelly's friends time to catch us up. It would be such a shame to waste the bomb on just one person."
Gianni looked down at the rough seas beneath the boat, "Are you sure that little cruiser is going to hold up in this weather?"
"It would be preferable to staying on this vessel when it blows, don't you think?"
Taking one last look at the bomb, he leant closer to it to check that the timer had been activated. Within five minutes the device would detonate and take him and everyone else on the boat with it, straight into the arms of Hell.
He knew in the back of his mind that there would be no way that he could make it out of the explosion alive, yet something in him urged him not to just sit by and wait for the end to come. Using his good arm, he pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, clinging on to whatever he could find in an effort to keep his legs from buckling and sending him straight back down to the dirty floor.
It took precious seconds for the waves of dizziness and nausea to pass as he held tightly to the railing on the wall. His legs felt as if they were made of lead as he tried to place one foot in front of the other. Eventually he made it to the door, he reached out with his bound arms with his shaky right hand, realising a little too late that his vision was beginning to swim alarmingly.
It took several attempts but eventually he found the door handle and grasped on to it, he held out little hope that it would open but was surprised to find that it did. At last, it seemed as if the Malucci's had finally slipped up, presuming that he was too injured or addled to try to escape.
He allowed himself a small smile as he turned the handle, thanking whatever entity that was looking out for him that they had spared him the fate of being blown into tiny pieces. He hoped that enough of his body would remain intact so that he could be identified and at least bring a little closure to Andy and the team who had tried so hard to protect him.
He poked his head out into the corridor and instantly regretted it as another wave of dizziness shook him. He wasn't sure if it was the rough waters they were sailing on or his own injured brain that was causing his surroundings to tilt wildly on their axis but either way, he didn't like the end result.
The incessant beeping of the cell phone's timer reminded him that he needed to get as far away from the central blast radius as possible. He clung onto the railings in the corridor in an effort to keep himself upright as the boat was tossed mercilessly from side to side in the raging seas. Had he been paying more attention, he would have noticed the blood drops and smudged hand prints that he was leaving all along the walls, providing a perfect trail of breadcrumbs for his captors to follow.
Swallowing a rising sense of nausea, he turned a corner and realised too late that he was face to face with a bulky, heavy-set man who looked less than pleased to see him up and about, roaming the halls of the boat.
"Walter, please, you have to take these cuffs off me. I need to know what's happening out there!" Kyle pleaded as he pulled on the handcuffs that bound him to the interior of Ryan's Hummer.
"No can do, kid. Calleigh will have my head if I let you get out. Let's not even start on what your father would do to me."
The younger man's struggles ceased as he huffed in defeat. "Will you at least tell me what's going on out there? I can't hear anything from inside this hulk of crap."
Walter took his time, glancing out at the water and the boats that were no more than tiny dots in the distance.
"They have your father on a boat, Eric and Ryan went out to give chase with the Coast Guard not that far behind them."
"They're heading for Cuba, aren't they?"
"Looks like it. Calleigh is throwing everything at this; we'll get H back before they reach the cut-off point."
The large black man wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, Kyle or himself. One look at the dark, grey clouds told him that the storm was picking up speed. He winced as he saw the huge waves crashing not far from the shore, it wouldn't be just a small weather front that would pass by quickly, it looked like a storm of epic proportions was building and heading in the same direction as the boats.
The loud clap of thunder made both men jump. Walter's heart skipped another beat as he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket; he frowned as he looked at the number, one that he didn't instantly recognise.
"CSI Simmons," he answered distractedly as he watched a flash of lightening fork its way from the heavens and towards the sea.
"Hello again, Walter," the seductive voice purred, "I have information that may be of use to you."
The voice took a few seconds to register in his head; it was the same sultry voice as his source at the IRS who had given him the tip-off about the withdrawals at Dade Mutual Bank.
"Listen, I've been meaning to call but things have been a bit….hectic," he claimed as he tried to dig his way out of a hole with the woman he had charmed less than twenty-four hours ago. He had promised to take her out on a date as a way of thanking her for her help and presumed that was the basis for her call to him.
"Perhaps next week," she replied as she gave him a naughty giggle.
"I ran a number of searches based on the account information that I gave you, pertaining to the withdrawals that were made from the Dade Mutual Bank. I found an anomaly…."
"I don't mean to be rude, but we're kind of in the middle of something major here, Could this wait until later?"
"I thought you would want to know that I found another instance of multiple withdrawals, all just below the $10,000 limit. This time, from a bank in New York. The account holder's details match those of your suspect in Miami."
Walter's lightning-fast mind quickly raced to put the pieces of the puzzle into place. Suddenly, it hit him. He raced towards Calleigh, his phone still in his hand as he completely ignored whatever Kyle was shouting at him.
It took precious seconds for Walter to make it over to her; he stood gasping for breath as walked closer to him.
"Walter, what is it?"
He took another couple of heaving breaths, "I think…I know…..I mean….." he babbled as he struggled to get the words out.
Calleigh had no time for patience; the situation with Horatio was going down to the wire.
"Tell me, Walter," she demanded.
"There was another set of withdrawals, just under $20,000 from a bank in New York, the same account holder details as the one here in Miami."
"What are you saying, Walter?"
"I think Fuentes lied to us. I think there's another bomb, and it's on that boat."