Chapter 4

"Here," Eric said as he entered the A/V lab and handed Ryan the DVD. The diamond ring was tucked safely in his right pants' pocket.

Calleigh wasn't sure what to think. Two minutes ago she was looking for her co-workers, excited to share some good news about her case. Now, she couldn't even remember what she wanted to tell them. She hid the tremble in her hands remarkably well; she looked the picture of composure on the outside, but on the inside her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Eric looked at his best friend like he could hear her thunderous heartbeats and Calleigh swallowed hard. She offered him a small smile, but she knew she couldn't fool the man she had known for so many years. Eric reached over quickly and tightly grasped her fingers. One squeeze of her hand and he pulled away. His innocent action, quick as it was, had the immediate desired effect—Calleigh felt a wave of calm wash over her. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on Wolfe, just as he turned to the pair behind him.

"Alright, it's keyed up," he said. Looking to Eric, he added, "Delko, you're sure?"

Eric looked at Calleigh and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure…I was thinking about it, and Speed was working madly on a project the week he died. He wouldn't let me see it, though. I think this must be it."

Calleigh was only half-listening, and she couldn't meet Eric's eyes as she remembered the rest of that week. She hadn't willingly thought about those days in a long time; instead, they invaded the tranquility of her thoughts every day, uninvited and unrelenting.

Eric and Tim had a falling-out a week before the shooting—if the term 'falling-out' could ever accurately describe what happened. It was more like a free-for-all screaming match. To this day, Calleigh didn't know the cause for the argument, although she had her suspicions. The fight ended as quickly as it began, so it seemed beside the point to ask questions. Delko and Speedle were typical men—duke it out and move on. They were back to normal within hours, Tim sporting a decent shiner on his left eye.

"Cal are you ready?" Eric asked the blonde woman. She was obviously somewhere else, and Eric sent her a funny look when she shook the cobwebs from her head and came back to the present. Calleigh grinned, trying to put him at ease.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm here."

"Alright, here we go," Ryan said as he double-clicked a file on the desktop. A still-frame popped to life on the computer screen and on the large LCD monitor in the center of the room. Before Wolfe could hit the 'play' button, the door to the lab swung open. The three CSIs turned around and were greeted by a curious red-headed lieutenant.

"Gentlemen, Ms. Duquesne. Gathering for the Friday matinee?" he asked with a crooked smirk and a gleam in his eye.

No one smiled at the joke, and that was Horatio's first clue that he had walked in on… something. Calleigh looked him in the eye, but for once the seasoned detective could not read the emotions there. He shifted his gaze to Wolfe and Delko. The younger CSI sat nervously in the chair near the A/V equipment, extremely interested in some invisible object across the room. Delko also avoided Horatio's eye, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down at his feet. His leg bounced nervously.

That was the give-away. Eric always shook his leg when he was stressed or nervous.

H cleared his throat. "What are we watching?" he queried in the way only Horatio Caine could do. He effectively invited himself to join the party, unobtrusively asserting his authority at the same time.

Ryan handed Delko the manila envelope, and he, in turn, handed it to his boss. Horatio studied it for a moment, at first unsure what he was looking at.

"Delko—September 20th, 2004," he read aloud. Eric, Calleigh, and Ryan knew the instant things clicked for the CSI chief, because his eyes jerked up and bored into those of his brother-in-law.

"Eric?"

The young man sighed heavily and ran a hand over his head. "It's his last video, H," he explained sadly. "He finished it the day he died."

Horatio was speechless, a phenomenon which frightened the trio standing before him. Calleigh watched him closely. Has Horatio ever been at a loss for words? she wondered. If so, she'd never witnessed it.

An unspoken question showed in his eyes, and Delko answered. "Wolfe found five boxes of Speed's things in the storage locker. We were going through them and he saw this package," Eric said, indicating the envelope in his LT's hands. "It's addressed to me," he finished quietly.

Horatio looked down at the manila envelope one more time, trying to process what he'd just learned. Tim was like a son to him, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to face five boxes worth of memories of a man who left him far too soon.

Calleigh noticed the tension knitting H's brow. "If you don't want to watch it with us, Horatio, we'll understand." Eric nodded his assent.

Horatio shook his head. "No, I want to be here. That is, if you don't mind, Eric."

Eric scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"It is your video," the man elaborated.

He hadn't thought about it like that. It was his video, and he had no idea what it contained. Still, he did know that he at least needed Calleigh here to watch it with him. Horatio and Ryan's presence didn't bother him. In fact, Eric kind of enjoyed sharing some of his old stories with Wolfe earlier. He wanted people to know Speedle, what kind of man he was, what kind of friend he was.

"Let's watch it," Eric stated decisively. Ryan turned back to the computer and hit 'play'…