Jeff shot up from behind the desk, the fright clearly written on his face. "That's Sally," he said in a panicked voice as he made to move towards the door.
Taking a couple of steps to his right, Horatio blocked the therapist's path with a raised hand. "Stay here, Jeff. Let me deal with this."
"But she could be in trouble. I have to help her!"
Jeff ran a trembling hand over his short greying hair as he tried once more to get past Horatio. He found himself blocked at every turn.
"All the more reason to let me deal with this."
The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an age before Jeff nodded his head. Defeated, he took a step back.
"Stay here," Horatio commanded as he pulled the cell phone out of his jacket pocket and handed it to the other man, hoping that giving him a job to do, no matter how menial, would likely calm the man's frayed nerves a little, giving himself enough time to take control of the situation.
Horatio pulled his jacket back and quietly removed his service weapon from its holster as he crept silently towards the door. "When I walk out there," he began as he motioned with his head to the other side of the door. "I want you to call the first number listed on the speed dial. Tell whoever answers that we have a 415 in progress, Code 2, and that we need immediate assistance. Can you do that?"
Jeff looked at the phone in his hands, noticing the tremors that were coursing through them. "I…I don't know," he stammered as he ran a hand through his hair again.
Horatio turned to face Jeff and walked back towards him. "Jeff, you can do this, ok?" The older man nodded but looked doubtful. "Repeat after me. There is a 415 in progress. Code 2. Immediate assistance required."
Both men heard Sally scream again. The lieutenant knew that time was of the essence, he needed to get out into the reception area as soon as possible, but he wouldn't be able to until he got Jeff to focus. "Jeff, repeat what I've just said."
Slowly, the therapist's eyes returned to the phone. He took a deep breath and willed himself to remember what he'd just been told. "A 4…..um…."
"A 415," Horatio repeated, trying to hold his rising sense of frustration and panic at bay. He had to get past the door. Quickly. He watched as Jeff forced himself to concentrate.
"A 415. Code 2. Immediate assistance?" Jeff looked at him hopefully.
Horatio gave him a tight nod of the head and a brief smile. "Perfect," he replied before making his way back over to the door. "Whatever happens, do not open this door. Ok?"
"But Sally…..she's out there."
"And so will I be. You need to keep calm, Jeff. I need you to focus, you can do that for me?"
It was less of a question and more of a statement. The therapist nodded his head and was rewarded with another small smile from the complicated police officer, a man that he had only just begun to know, watching as Horatio opened the door slowly and peeked through the crack in order to get a better understanding of the situation on the other side. He was about to tell him to be careful when the door closed quietly. He sat down at his desk and stared at the phone again, hoping that Horatio would be able to deal with whatever lay on the other side.
With gun drawn, he silently crept from the doorway, somewhat satisfied that he hadn't been spotted yet. As soon as he had opened the door he had recognised the tattoos of the man who was holding Sally hostage. How could he have forgotten them? He'd only just seen them this morning. They belonged to the man who had threatened to take justice into his own hands, seeking retribution for the slaughter of his step-brother.
He took another step forward and kept his left hand on the heavy wooden door until it had clicked gently shut behind him, it was only then that he adopted his favoured stance as he looked down the barrel of his gun. He continued to creep quietly forward, hoping to gain as much ground as he could before Cesar realised he was there.
"I know you're behind me, Caine," the Hispanic man drawled as he tightened his hold around Sally's neck, causing her to whimper pitifully.
"Then let the girl go, Cesar. She's not part of this."
A small laugh emanated from Cesar. He could see the tattoos rise and fall on the broad shoulders of the recently released convict as he continued to chuckle. "I needed a little leverage. Seems you didn't take me seriously this morning."
He gripped his gun tightly, hoping that his clammy hands wouldn't cause his hold to loosen on his weapon. "I heard you loud and clear, Cesar. My people are doing everything they can to find out who killed Jesus."
He was shocked by how quickly Cesar turned, pulling Sally roughly round with him as she let out a pained yelp. He could see the pain and fear in her eyes, and tried to convey through sight alone that he would get her out of this situation in one piece.
"Your people have done nothing!"
"You need to give us time, Cesar. We're doing everything we can."
"No, you're not. You don't care, as long as it's another piece of scum off the streets. Isn't that what you all say, Caine?"
"Cesar…..listen to me," he implored the furious gunman, "This isn't going to help. Just let the girl go and we can talk about this."
"We've got nothing to talk about!"
Horatio sensed that he would perhaps need to change tacks in order to talk his opponent down. He didn't much fancy the other option, he'd frozen the last time he'd been in a situation like this. Who was to say that it wouldn't happen again? Except this time Ryan and Eric would not be here to save his skin. He was on his own, he needed to take command of the situation before it got out of hand, before people got hurt.
"My team…..they found the body this afternoon. We know it was you, Cesar. You killed the man who you thought was responsible for your brother's death, didn't you?"
Cesar bristled at the accusatory tone of his counterpart as he once more adjusted his grip on his hostage's neck. "I still got people on the streets, they told me who my little bro's partner was. I knew you pigs wouldn't get him, so I did him in first."
Horatio narrowed his eyes, hoping to get a better vantage point that would allow him to take aim at Cesar and take him out before he'd have a chance of hurting Sally. "So you admit that Jesus was involved in the double homicide?"
Cesar could have kicked himself for his foolish admission. Still, it didn't matter now. Jesus was dead anyway, and so was the little prick who'd killed him. "Hector got what was coming to him. Family look after their own, you hear me, Caine?"
"I do," he replied before taking a step forwards, gradually closing the distance between them. He gave Sally a tight smile, hoping that she took a little reassurance from the fact that she wasn't alone. "This is over, Cesar. Just let the girl go, she's got nothing to do with this."
The frightened young woman flinched as she felt the cold metal of the gun bite into the skin on her neck as her assailant once more tightened his grip on her. "Stay where you are, Caine, or I swear I'll blow her head off and then yours!"
"Cesar, you've got nowhere to go. I don't want to hurt you…..but I will...if you make me." He silently hoped that it sounded as forceful in reality as it did in his head. Right now, it was all he could do to keep his hands from shaking, the images of the hostage situation at the warehouse came vividly to mind. What if he froze again?
He heard that sneering laugh once more. "That's not what I've heard." He pointed his gun at his adversary this time as he kept a tight grip on the woman. "I heard they broke you, Caine. I heard they hurt you…..real bad. The word out there is that you've lost your bottle, the great Lieutenant Horatio Caine...afraid of his own shadow," Cesar taunted.
He willed himself to stop listening, Cesar was trying to get under his skin. Trying to make him doubt himself. Where the hell was that backup? Had Jeff even relayed the message he'd given him?
He gripped his weapon tighter and took another small step forwards. "Is that your gun I see shaking?" Cesar goaded as he took a step forward himself.
You have a shot. Take the shot, he repeated over and again in his head. All he had to do was block the taunting voice of Cesar out of his mind. They would get out of this situation, he and Sally. They would get out of this alive and unharmed.
"Come on, Caine. Show me what you got. Did they cut your balls off too?"
His eyes narrowed again as he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Time was running out. He had to do something.
"You can't do it, can you? You've lost your bottle, old man…..I heard…."
A single gunshot rang out as the words died in Cesar's throat. The limp body fell to the floor, sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling, a bullet wound marking a clear entry point into the front of his skull.
"I guess your heard wrong then, Cesar," Horatio quipped as he holstered his weapon and made his way quickly over to Sally. She looked at him with a sense of fright before grabbing hold of him and hugging him tightly. "Shhhhh. You're ok, Sally. You're safe now, I promise you."
He held her as she continued to weep, huge sobs wracked her body as she clung to him for dear life. He kept her head held against his chest, so much so that she couldn't see the pooling blood around the dead body of the man who had held her hostage.
He held her for what seemed like an age as her sobs slowly began to die out, but still she hung onto him, not wanting to let him go. He was her safe harbour, she clung to him as if her life depended on it. "It's all over, Sally. He can't hurt you anymore, ok?"
He felt her nod against his chest as he guided her towards Jeff's office, all the while keeping hold of her, maintaining the physical contact that she so obviously needed to feel. They had almost made it to the door when he heard movement from behind him. Quick as a flash, he placed his body in front of hers and brandished his gun, ready to fight off any of Cesar's friends that might have come to finish the job.
"Easy, H," Ryan said as he held his left hand in the air, his gun still gripped in his right. "It's just us. You ok?"
He took a deep breath as he holstered his gun once more and nodded his head. "Good timing, Mr Wolfe."
"Is that Donato?" Ryan asked as he motioned his head towards the dead body lying in the middle of the room, holstering his own weapon as he spoke. Natalia and Frank were bringing up the rear, he could already hear Frank puffing away as he climbed the stairs.
"It is."
"Is anyone else hurt?" Frank questioned as Ryan stood aside and let the stocky detective enter the room.
"No. Everyone is fine," Horatio answered as he stepped forward a few paces, leaving a shaking Sally behind him. "Relatively speaking, anyway."
"What happened?"
Horatio looked in Frank's direction as he watched the detective crouch down to check for a pulse on the body. It was a futile gesture, it was clear to see that Cesar was dead. "Seems our friend Mr Donato was a little impatient. He felt as if we weren't doing enough to find his brother's killer." He cast furtive glances at the door to Jeff's office. The therapist hadn't opened it yet and he prayed that the man was ok.
Why wouldn't he be? Horatio questioned himself as he shook his head imperceptibly. "Ryan, Natalia," he began as he looked at each of them in turn, "Please process the scene, I need to make sure that our hostages are unharmed."
The two CSI looked at each other and shared a doubtful look, watching as Horatio made his way back over to the young woman cowering by the door. It had shocked Ryan when he'd entered the room, Horatio was staring at him wildly with his service weapon aimed directly at him. Given Horatio's behaviour lately, it crossed Ryan's mind that his superior could easily have shot him by mistake.
But he didn't, did he? Ryan told himself as he collected his kit from the hallway. He obviously didn't freeze this time either. He'd be looking at multiple dead bodies if he had.
Still, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right with this scenario. There had been no callout previous to the one he and Natalia had answered a short while ago, why had Donato come here, and how had Horatio been able to respond so quickly to the call?
He hadn't even heard Horatio radio his response in to Dispatch, attending a scene without notifying the Department was firmly against protocol, even a rookie uniformed officer knew that. Cops wading into unknown crimes in progress placed everyone in danger, including the officer themselves.
Horatio had been the first one to hammer home the point to his team, they never went in unauthorised, and never alone. It seemed to be a rule that the lieutenant often flouted himself, only listening to his own wise words when it suited him. The damn man had the luck of the Irish, that was for sure. Well, he had until recently. Now, Ryan wasn't so sure.
"Hey, Ryan. How about giving me a hand here," Natalia grumbled as she struggled to lift the dead weight of the corpse in front of her.
"Huh?"
She shook her head and mumbled under her breath, giving Ryan a pointed look when he finally tore his eyes away from Horatio and what he was doing.
He approached Sally slowly, aware that she was trembling and likely in shock. He kept his voice soft and low as he bent his head down to make eye contact with her. "Sally, are you ok?"
He could hear her hiccupping as she tried to gain some semblance of control over her body and her emotions. She looked up at him and attempted to speak, words failed her and so she nodded her head slightly instead.
Taking her gently by the arm, he guided her into the relative privacy of Jeff's office. "Let's get you sat down, ok?" She seemed to follow him blindly, although he could still feel the tremors wracking her body as she tried to place one foot in front of the other. "Well done, Sally," he crooned as he lowered her into the chair that he himself had been sat in not all that long ago, nodding his thanks to Jeff as the therapist busied himself with making a round of coffees. It didn't escape his notice that the man's hands were shaking slightly too.
He gratefully took the steaming cup of coffee from Jeff and gulped the scorching liquid down rapidly, not particularly caring that the black liquid caused a physical pain when it hit the back of his throat. He needed the hit of caffeine more than he needed use of his vocal cords at the present moment. The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins, causing his heart to thump wildly in his chest.
"You relayed the message, Jeff. Well done." He gave the older man a tight smile, watching as Jeff paced slightly around the room.
"What the hell was all that about, Horatio?" he asked as he ran a hand through his hair, before placing his hands on his hips. He'd heard enough stories from cops and military men in his line of work about how nerve-wracking hostage situations could be. He had to admit that he'd underestimated the control and mental strength it took to handle situations like that head-on. He'd just had his first real dose of what it was like to be in the thick of the action, and he wasn't sure that he particularly enjoyed it.
"The situation has been taken care of," Horatio replied evasively as he stood side on between Jeff and Sally.
"So I heard," Jeff replied a little too quickly. "I'm guessing that was your gun I heard go off?"
Stupid question, Jeff! If it wasn't his gun then he wouldn't be standing in front of you right now, would he?
"It was," Horatio sighed with a sense of genuine regret in his voice. Taking the life of another had never been a pleasurable experience for him. But Cesar Donato had given him no choice but to take the shot. Or had he?
He could have wounded the man, had he deliberately chosen to kill him instead? Did he need the reassurance that he still had what it took to take the shot, and more importantly, to take another person's life?
Had a part of him wanted to kill Cesar just to prove to himself that was still capable of doing his job?
Jeff's strong grip on his shoulder shook him from his reverie, he looked up into the other man's eyes. "Thank you, Horatio. You saved our lives today."
He squirmed slightly under the intensity of Jeff's gaze. "Just doing my job," he mumbled, feeling uncomfortable that two pairs of grateful-looking eyes were staring intently back at him.
"Well, what you did was amazing. I wasn't sure any of us were going to get out of this alive."
It sure didn't feel amazing, now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. He was now acutely aware of the compromising situation he found himself in. Cesar had obviously followed him here, and now the place was swarming with his colleagues. Surely they would piece it all together and realise why he had been here first. It dawned on him then that the team would want to know what he was doing here. They would begin to question his behaviour since his return, if they hadn't already, and they would inevitably find him wanting. Word would get back to the Chief and IAB, then his career would effectively be over. He'd be forced to ride a desk or pushed into an early retirement. Neither of those options seemed particularly appealing to him at the moment.
There was a loud knock at the door before it creaked open noisily, Frank Tripp stood on the other side as he watched the scene before him, feeling like he was intruding on something personal. "Ok if I come in and take some statements?" the big man asked. Horatio nodded his head and motioned for him to come in.
He was thankful that Frank had the good grace to keep his questioning of Sally relatively short. The poor woman was still in a terrible state and could only give one or two word answers at best. The coffee seemed to have done nothing to ease her nerves, it was likely that the she would need a much stronger type of drink in order to cope with the events of the day.
"Ok, I think I've got enough for now," Frank said gently as he smiled at her, looking at Horatio for confirmation before he let her leave.
He guided her to the door and instructed a uniformed officer to escort her home. Sally looked back before she left the room and gave Horatio a watery smile and small wave, hoping to convey the gratitude she felt towards him.
Frank then turned his attention to Jeff, watching as the grey-haired man paced back and forth behind his desk, clearly distracted. The detective peered down at the name badge on the oak desk. "Dr Pearce?"
The therapist tore his gaze from the window and turned in the direction of the voice. "That's me. Jeff Pearce."
"You wanna tell me what happened here today?" Frank asked as he held his pen and notepad ready with the intention of noting any pertinent information down.
"You pretty much know what happened," Jeff replied evasively, casting a furtive glance to Horatio every now and then. Frank was an experienced enough detective to pick up on the slightly nervous lilt to the man's voice.
"I'd rather hear it from you, Doctor."
The therapist looked to Horatio once more who nodded his head slightly. "I heard Sally scream and then I called for help. I'm not sure how much more assistance I can be of to you, detective." He shrugged his shoulders as he sat down in his office chair, feeling for all the world as if his legs were going to fail him suddenly. The adrenaline was wearing off and now shock was starting to set in.
Frank looked unimpressed by the doctor's answer, there was something hinky going on. He just couldn't put his finger on it...yet. "The information that you gave to Dispatch was quite specific, something only someone in law enforcement would know. How did you know which codes to give?"
The detective watched as his colleague and the doctor seemed to be having some kind of silent conversation, relayed through eye contact and facial expressions alone. If he had any doubt before, all the alarm bells were ringing now.
"I…..uh…." the doctor stammered as he tried to avoid Frank's steely gaze. "I…"
"Because I told him, Frank."
Horatio's voice was quiet yet firm, Frank turned his attention to his colleague, feeling even more confused than he had a moment ago. He ran a frustrated hand over his head, "Does someone want to explain to me what's going on here, 'cos right now this is making the kind of sense that well…..doesn't."
He was glad that he'd pulled his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket, it proved a useful tool with which to avoid Frank's penetrating gaze. "I was already here with Dr Pearce when we heard Sally scream."
The detective took a moment or two to think about what Horatio had just told him. What would the lieutenant be doing talking to a shrink? Was their business professional or personal?
He suddenly realised that he didn't want to know the answer to that. Still, there had been an officer-involved shooting, all pertinent questions had to be asked, whether they seemed relevant at the time or not.
"Why were you here, Horatio?" He winced as the words left his mouth, knowing that his colleague would not take kindly to his prying. Horatio had barely had time to open his mouth before Jeff had answered for him.
"We have a mutual friend….Alexx Woods?"
"Yeah, I know her," Frank answered, his mind immediately casting back to a few months ago when all of them had seen more of the good lady doctor than they might have wanted to. She had been the physician in charge of Horatio's primary care as he started on the long road to recovery.
"Well…..I've had a few clients that have given me cause for concern with some of their admissions recently. I wanted the Lieutenant's advice on the best course of action to take, in an off-the-record chat….so to speak."
He certainly didn't miss the way Horatio's eyes narrowed at the doctor as he willingly volunteered the information. Was Horatio hiding something? He wouldn't put it past the man, yet he had no reason to doubt him either. Horatio had proved, time and again, his loyalty to the team and to the city he'd sworn to protect. He would leave it at that and hand his report in, if anyone wanted to investigate any further, then that was up to them. As far as he was concerned, it was case closed.
Frank pocketed his notepad in the breast pocket of his jacket. "Thank you for your time, Dr Pearce. I'll see you back at the ranch, Horatio?"
Horatio looked up briefly from his sunglasses, a scowl still marring his handsome features. "Yes, you will, Francis."
He waited until his colleague had left the room before pinning Jeff with an icy glare. "Do you realise what you've done, Doctor?" The friendly tone had gone and was replaced with a low growl instead. How could Jeff have been so stupid as to lie like that?
"I was protecting my client's right to privacy," Jeff shot back as he puffed out his chest and rose to his feet, he wasn't going to let the man in front of him intimidate him.
"By committing perjury?"
"Semantics, Horatio. The fact remains that you were here when it all took place, the reason why is secondary to that. It's not going to change the outcome of what happened. You shot an armed suspect who was holding a woman hostage, that's all that anyone needs to know."
"That's not your decision to make, Jeff." He virtually spat the man's name.
"It's not like I lied under oath. I was just a little creative with the truth is all," the doctor shrugged, clearly at ease with his actions, even if his client was not.
"I don't like it," Horatio grumbled as his gaze returned to his glasses. Why were all of these people risking their careers and lying for him?
"You don't have to like it."
The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, Horatio eventually backed down by letting out a resigned sigh as his head dropped. "This discussion isn't over."
"And you can berate me at our next session. Right now, I need a stiff drink and an early night. So if you wouldn't mind?" he replied as he gestured for the door, letting out his own small sigh when his client finally left the room.
He sat back down in his chair and let out a nervous breath. He was getting far too old for this kind of excitement anymore.