Dead violet eyes locked onto her freezing her with fear. It was dark, everything was thick with darkness and yet she could see those eyes. She knew she had to snap out of it, had to unfreeze and act or Horatio would force her on leave again. He was cloaked in the darkness, a shadow looming out to get her. 'Just a person,' she told herself firmly, 'just a person.'
She reached for her gun, drew it sharply and took aim. Instead of a bang it clicked as it stalled. Ridley looked at it in horror before a scream erupted out of her as he hit her hard and she fell to floor. Limp and vulnerable, she was stunned, she couldn't move.
"Scream for them Ridley, scream for Lieutenant Caine and the photographer. He's next, he'll scream worse than Justin."
Ridley obeyed when his cold hands reached down to violate her.
"He raped her so hard he broke her pelvis Calleigh," that was Tim's voice, somewhere in the distance she could barely hear him, "he tore off her nails one by one and flayed her skin, and all that before he buried her alive to suffocate or bleed to death, and you don't want to know where the sick fuck put that calling card of his."
Oh God, she could taste vomit, he was talking about her, through a haze she could hear him and Calleigh discussing her 'case'.
She screamed again.
"Ridley! Ridley it's okay, it's just a nightmare!" Tim fumbled for his lamp, flicking it on as the young woman thrashed and shrieked beside him. He reached out to her, shaking her again, and leaning back when her eyes snapped open.
She bolted upright and looked about the room in alarm before reaching for a gun that wasn't there. "He's coming! He's coming!"
"He's not Ridley," Tim assured as he reached out a hand towards her gently.
When footsteps sounded up the corridor and the door was knocked Ridley screamed again as her heart leapt into her throat.
"Are you alright?" Calleigh called through the door worriedly.
"Shit," Tim cursed as he reached out to Ridley again. She jumped when his hand grasped her right arm and looked at him fearfully. "Ridley you're safe, I swear," he told her seriously, "it's just Calleigh at the door, she, Eric, you and me are the only ones in this house, remember?"
Ridley trembled as she looked confused for a moment before shaking her head helplessly as the tears started to trickle down her face. "I remember the hospital," she choked out, "I...I wasn't awake but I...I was aware...there was something cold, it hurt, all this poking...God you and Calleigh saw it all, every detail... He...He did awful things to me..."
Tim pulled her close against him as she dissolved into sobs. "I know Ridley," he said quietly as he rested his chin on her head and stroked her hair tenderly with one hand. "He did but he is dead now, Horatio made damn sure of that, I saw it with my own eyes, he is never going to hurt you again."
As Ridley's sobs grew louder Calleigh knocked the door again. "Guys what's wrong?" she queried worriedly.
Tim sighed, he knew Ridley wouldn't want Calleigh and Eric seeing her but they had heard her screams and could hear her sobs, they could probably take a good guess at her appearance and the cause for it. "Ridley had a nightmare, but it's okay Calleigh," he called out. His frown deepened when Ridley tensed against him. "I know it's not okay," he murmured to her, "but you have done so well so far, please don't let this guy win. He took enough from you as it is, don't let him have your life too Ridley."
Calleigh accepted Tim's answer though a part of her wanted to go into the room anyway. Afraid of embarrassing Ridley she returned to the living room.
Tim repositioned Ridley gently, turning her sideways against him. "Come on now," he said gently, "bump, bump, it means you're safe, remember?"
Ridley almost smiled as she nodded against him. There it was, that now familiar sound of Tim's calm heartbeats. "Safe," she murmured wearily.
"Yep." Tim waited patiently for Ridley to nod back to sleep against him before he leaned back against his pillow and attempted to fall back to sleep himself.
When Ridley next woke it was more peacefully and at a more respectable hour of the morning. She could still hear the rhythmic steady beats of Tim's heart and found herself comfortable but stiff. She pulled back quickly as she realised if she felt stiff Tim was probably in agony.
He awoke with Ridley's sudden movement and looked at her questioningly.
"Sorry," she murmured, "I thought you might be sore with me having slept on you all night."
He was, in fact he was getting a little desperate for his painkillers now but he shook his head anyway. "I'm fine," he assured as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He reached out to her with one hand and stroked her mussed hair gently.
Ridley held his gaze wordlessly and gave a faint smile. She moved forward slowly, cocked her head slightly and pressed her lips against his. Warm and gentle, it was enough to arouse and yet Tim restrained himself, gripping her waist tenderly with both hands and pulling her closer.
Her hands slid down his bare chest teasingly before resting at the edge of his boxers. When she tugged at them he moved to accommodate her, daring to shift his own fingertips up and under his black shirt against her warm bare skin. He pulled back from the kiss, tugged his hands out and looked at her hopefully. "Can I have my shirt back?" he queried dryly.
Ridley's smile widened as she reached up to unbutton it. Tim let her do it, knowing it was easier if she was in control but once she opened the last button he couldn't resist leaning forward to slide it off her shoulders. She shuddered slightly as he kissed at the scars on her throat whilst his hands roved up her body, stroking circles about the scar on her stomach softly before climbing higher. A gasp escaped her prompting Tim to give a satisfied grin as he pulled back slightly to reposition himself better.
His chest threatened to burst in agony but it was worth it, damnit it was worth the pain. When it ended with several more grunts and gasps of satisfaction Tim felt a tingling warmth rush over him and knew that what he had been missing with Serena was returned.
Ridley, sweat soaked and panting, leaned up against him once more, nestling into his chest, her eyes widening slightly at the frantic beats of his heart. She closed her eyes as he wrapped one arm about her waist loosely and leaned back against the headboard of the bed.
It was around two in the afternoon and Ridley was in the city helping herself to a late lunch. She stood at a kiosk in the mall admiring the Halloween decorations on display in the shop windows whilst she waited for her bagel. She could imagine the jokes Tim would make if he knew what she was ordering, the merciless teasing about being unable to take New York out of the detective. He was currently at therapy, and then he would be in the lab. Ridley was due there at four to share a late shift with Calleigh going over her recent case with Horatio.
Ridley frowned as her stomach gave an unpleasant gurgle, she hadn't eaten anything yet, barely keeping down the coffee she had taken at Tim's and was curious as to how everyone else was holding up. Tim had offered her some fast food burgers for breakfast but Ridley had turned pale at the mere thought and rejected the offer.
"Excuse me."
Ridley turned at the nervous voice and tugged down her rainbow tinted shades to look at the woman curiously. "Yes?" she quipped calmly.
Slim, brunette, somewhere in her twenties and most definitely uneasy with frightened blue eyes that darted about warily. "You're...you're a detective aren't you?" she quipped quietly as she leaned forward.
Ridley leaned back instinctively even as she nodded warily.
"I..I saw you in the papers," the young woman admitted. "Look I need help; please they're going to kill me." She glanced over her right shoulder and turned to Ridley sharply. "Shit they're here! Oh God you have to help me!" She clutched at Ridley's arm suddenly with a desperate look in her eyes.
"Hold on a minute, who's going to kill you? Who are you?"
"Look my friend's already dead! They murdered her, God it was awful it was on the news this morning. Oh shit, we have to go, please God!" She started to move and attempted to drag Ridley with her.
BANG!
Ridley's eyes went wide as she felt the bullet whizzing past her left side. The mall erupted into chaos instantly as people screamed in alarm and started to run blindly for cover. Ridley felt the woman's hand begin to slip away and instinctively tightened her grasp. Unfortunately it was Ridley's right hand the woman had grabbed, her gun hand. "Who the hell are you?" Ridley snapped.
"Emily," came the babbled retort, "but..." She shrieked as another gun fired and started to run harder.
Ridley struggled to maintain pace as they dodged right and left awkwardly to avoid the panicking crowds. "Emily you're running blindly! Look, let me lead!" Ridley snapped in frustration as she feared an innocent bystander getting gunned down in the chaos.
The woman glanced at the detective doubtfully and ignored her, releasing her hand and heading for the stairs.
"Fuck!" Ridley cursed as she tugged out her gun and hurried after the young woman.
Everyone seemed to stampede up the stairs and the escalators as the gunfire herded them in that direction. Ridley cursed as she reached the second floor and a boutique shop's window immediately exploded into a thousand shards as a bullet whizzed through it.
The detective started to sprint, weaving left and right sharply to avoid people all while keeping the awkward Emily in her sights, the woman didn't even have the wit to zigzag, instead she ran mostly in a straight line making an easy target. Emily bolted into a large discount store, prompting Ridley to curse again; she was leading them towards innocent people!
Emily let out a shriek when Ridley grabbed her right hand sharply and tugged her to one side. Ridley mimed a 'shush' motion with one finger and a stern look as she dragged Emily down and into a ring of clothes.
BANG!
Emily's scream was only just silenced by Ridley's hand as a man hit the floor in a twitching bloody mess as a bullet imploded in his skull. Ridley swallowed hard as she pointed to the left and urged Emily to start crawling fast.
Forward across the cold, stained, grey floor to cower within a rack of men's trousers. Ridley followed after her, eyes darting about all the time as she tried to work out where the emergency exits were. They weren't alone as numerous shoppers hit the floor in a flurry of screams, pleads, prayers and curses. Ridley watched as numerous shoes clattered by her vision, all while she tried to spot the only feet that weren't running. 'Who the hell are these guys?' she wondered as she swallowed down her nerves. 'Fuck they don't seem to care who they shoot!'
Time seemed to pass by slowly as Ridley wondered where in the hell the police were, surely they had been called now. The crowds had thinned as most made it out the doors abandoning those who were too slow or simply too afraid to flee. Ridley aimed her gun carefully as she waited. There they were, polished black Forzieris, designer Italian shoes moving slowly as if with a purpose.
Emily let out a whimper prompting Ridley to act fast. BANG! Her Colt kicked back slightly as a bullet shot out of it and embedded itself in an ankle. Ridley did a U-turn on the floor, dragging Emily with her before she pulled her from their cover, moving quickly across the floor.
BANG! BANG!
A hail of gunfire seemed to surround the women, cutting through mannequins, paintings, cushions, teddies and ornaments all while people screamed and shrieked in horror. Emily let out a gasp as they almost stumbled over a cowering young boy.
"Under that shelf now!" Ridley barked at him sharply before she dragged Emily down an aisle of art materials.
BANG!
Paint spilled onto the floor and Ridley almost skidded on it with a curse. She made out a blur of faces as she fired back. Swarthy skinned, dark eyed, all muscle and dressed in leather, she thought they might be Cuban or Spanish. BANG! She hit one in the chest and her own heart almost stilled as she had a brief flashback of Tim falling back in a similar manner with blood blooming from him. 'Not now!' she ordered herself as she jerked Emily to the right, just in time to avoid the returned bullet.
Past the bed linen and down to the ground again, under shelves of bathroom utensils.
"I'm going to be sick," Emily gasped as she let out a retching noise.
"Why are they after you?" Ridley demanded as she led the way on, the emergency exit wasn't far.
"Drugs," Emily stammered, "we...we didn't know they were cartel."
"Fuck."
"They killed her in our hotel."
Ridley's eyes widened as she suddenly realised what Emily was talking about. "Fiona Marshalls," she grumbled.
"Yes," Emily said guiltily with a horrified look, "that..it was a fake ID."
Ridley shook her head.
BANG! Just to Ridley's right. She spied three men as she returned fire even as she snapped. "Go! Go! Go!"
It seemed to go on for ages, Ridley and Emily moved through the labyrinth of products never staying hidden for more than a minute, it was almost like they were being toyed with. Three more innocents were shot, flesh wounds Ridley hoped, as she calculated that there were at least four men armed in the store. She debated over what to do as she dragged Emily under a roll of carpets.
"You're going to hide," Ridley ordered her quietly, "behind those rugs over there." She gestured to the rugs hanging opposite them in a square. "Not a sound, not a movement. I'm going to lead them out of here. When they are gone you ask for Horatio Caine. Horatio Caine," she repeated the name slower and firmly.
"No," Emily began a protest but Ridley clamped a hand over her mouth tightly and shook her head.
"Do what I say. In five seconds I'm going to roll out of here and fire shots, you move then and hide." She reloaded her gun, counted the five seconds in her head, released Emily and rolled out from under the carpets.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ridley fired hard, catching one in the shoulder and one in his left hand before she ran to the other side of the carpets out of their sight and fled out the emergency exit, taking care to open and slam the door twice for effect. She knew it was a huge and stupid risk but she didn't think she could keep running with Emily and keep her safe. She just had to hope they would fall for the rouse.
Down the concrete stairs, she felt an odd relief when she heard footsteps and shouts just above and behind her. 'Keeping going,' she urged herself, 'they can't see you yet.' Her right arm was aching, she was covered in sweat and she knew they could hear her boots slamming off the concrete steps noisily and could only pray that they couldn't tell it was just one set of feet.
It was a quarter to five when Lieutenant Caine arrived with Detective Speedle to survey the gruesome scene in SB Fern's store. He looked about the carnage and chaos grimly, while the police continued to get babbled statements.
"Afternoon Lieutenant Caine," Officer Grimsbury greeted him politely with a nod.
"What happened here?" Horatio demanded.
Officer Grimsbury sighed wearily and shrugged. "No one's quite sure, all we know for definite is that there were men with guns, Cuban in appearance, all dressed in black and following after two women, one of whom apparently returned fire."
Tim's eyes widened slightly. "In a shopping mall?" he quipped dryly. "What the hell did those girls do?"
"Lieutenant Caine over here!" Frank Tripp's voice called out over the store as he studied some bullet holes with distain.
Huddled against herself amongst the rugs and soaked in her own urine, Emily snapped out of her haze at the voice. 'Caine,' she thought dumbly, 'she said Caine.' She broke from the rugs in a mad fury with an inhuman wail.
Several officers drew their guns and turned in alarm before Horatio waved them down as he looked at the woman in astonishment. She halted in the middle of the floor and looked about wildly, her lip trembling, her face red and blotchy and soaked with tears.
"Fiona Marshalls," Horatio stated in astonishment.
She looked to him with wide eyes and nodded as she trembled and a sob escaped her. "Hor...Horatio Caine," she stammered it out questioningly.
He nodded. "Yes, I've been looking for you," he answered calmly as he took a step towards her. "Do you know what happened here Fiona?"
She shook her head. "Emily," she choked out, "it's Emily. She...ssh...she said you could help me."
"Who did?"
"Then she left! She left me!"
"Who did?" Horatio repeated calmly.
"Dd...Detective Moon."
Tim suddenly felt sick as several curses slipped out of him loudly before he could help it.
"What do you mean Detective Moon?" Horatio demanded, forcing himself to sound calm even as he filled with the same sick feeling Tim did.
"I...I...I saw her," Emily confessed as she hugged herself tightly. "They kkk...killed my friend...I was so scared...She was on the news, I recognised her... Shit I just wanted help!"
"Emily calm down and start from the top," Horatio urged her. He turned to Officer Grimsbury and ordered, "take her statement now."
Grimsbury fumbled for his notepad and a pen with a nod.
It was just after half five by the time they had gotten all the details, Emily was sent to the hospital with top security whilst every officer in the city was warned to look out for cartel members matching what descriptions they could gather and Detective Moon.
Horatio and Tim had hastened out the emergency exit witnesses said she had left through and down the stairs; there were a few blood spatters but no other hints before they found themselves exiting out to an alleyway that led to the main road.
"Did they get her?" Tim snapped frantically. "Do we phone her?"
"It could give her away," Horatio said coolly. "If she can use her phone she will. Let's just look for the evidence and hope it gives us a trail."
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!" Tim roared.
"Speed don't think like this," Horatio ordered with a stern look, "it's not going to help."
"Shit Horatio what if they've got her? What if-"
"Detective Speedle do not do this," Horatio commanded sharply. He tugged out his phone as it started to ring and snapped it open hastily.
"H we've got another one," Eric's voice spoke down it calmly, "Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee."
"Deal with it," Horatio answered coldly, "take Calleigh, Speed and I have a case." He hung up the phone before Eric could say anymore.