What a delay I know, a combination of writer's block and dealing with a chronic illness but here's the update. For anyone who's read the original I am planning a few changes to it just to bring something new to the fic. Thank you Guest for your lovely review and encouragement to keep going with this!

Lt. Caine. Seeing the title almost made me vomit. Instead I opted for passive aggression and parked my scrappy rental into the marked parking space. I ignored the dubious looks I got from passing staff members, in part because of my chosen parking space no doubt but perhaps a little bit because of my abrupt braking. Well if he wasn't here already then tough, first come, first served and all that. I turned the engine off, swiped up the takeaway cup of coffee to my left and took a swig of cheap, cold coffee.

I squinted at the morning Miami sun as I took in the looming Miami-Dade P.D. It wasn't that impressive a building, wide and four storeys tall, it didn't exactly measure up to the skyscrapers of New York.

"Well someone's here to make an impression, good morning to you."

I glanced over my shoulder at the cheery call and caught sight of a blond waving at me. Beside her stood two men, one looked a little sullen, definitely unimpressed with my parking, whilst the other seemed to be debating a smile, perhaps he was curious about me, no preformed notions of hostility for the visiting detective just yet. I knew my parking would draw attention to myself, I could almost hear Justin tutting and murmuring that I misbehaved on purpose.

The blond gave me a smile so I smiled and lifted my palm up to give a single wave back.

"You must be our New Yorker," she called over to me, chipper with a Southern accent. Although they came from different states, the Southern twang put in mind of Sergeant Stetler. I shrugged off that unwanted memory and walked over to the blond and her companions.

As I got up close the sullen man glanced away, instantly disinterested in me. He looked a little casual for the Miami-Dade P.D but I wondered given the hot climate and beach neighbourhood if maybe they were a little more careless with their fashion here. Another way for me to stand out like a sore thumb, my preppy October ready New York styled attire did not mesh well here. I didn't care despite the sweat building up beneath my jacket and shirt, it wasn't like I'd had the time or money to go shopping for Miami.

"Detective Riley Moon," I introduced myself, "your New Yorker, unless you're expecting another."

"Calleigh Duquesne," she introduced, "and this is Tim Speedle," she gestured to the disinterested male, "and this is Eric Delko."

I nodded to each of them in turn. Eric looked back at me with a gleam of intrigue as a a hint of a smile edged up on his mouth.

"We're in CSI," Calleigh explained.

"Are you on the dunes case then?"

Calleigh nodded as some of her brightness slipped away from her pretty face. "Yep, not like our usual murders that one," she said quietly. "Why don't you follow us in and we'll get you caught up."

"Sure thing."

Although Calleigh had said follow, she started to walk beside me and we headed together to the M.D.P.D entrance. I felt Tim's stare boring into me and glanced over to catch him studying me with disapproval. I wondered if it might be because I had taken his boss' parking space or because my outfit was a lot more wrinkled than intended?

Calleigh introduced me at reception where I got to pose for a photograph the clearance card ordered for me. Haggard with my baggy eyes and frizzy hair I did not get a great picture but when does one ever shine for an I.D card? I accepted it with the green MDPD marked lanyard, marvelled at the quickness of their card printer, thanked the receptionist and let Calleigh lead the way upstairs.

As I walked I sweated and wondered how Calleigh's dark suit seemed so crisp and sweat free while her face shone only with an almost nauseating glow of good form instead of the oily contamination of cheap make-up and heat that mine probably gleamed with. Miami, it sounded nice on paper- sun, beaches, palm trees and better weather than New York, but now I was here I wasn't so sure the weather appealed after all.

"The boss will want to see you," Calleigh said as she nodded to a plain door with a tinted window and a metallic plaque on it marked for Lt. Caine.

"Better you wait for him to decide what you're doing," Tim spoke up in a dry and most definitely unpleasant tone.

I looked to him again. Apathetic weariness lingered in his brown stare like he'd seen it all before twice over, his fair skin had been unblemished by the sun and suggested, like his accent, that he wasn't a Miami native and a shadow of stubble stained his chin as if he'd been too lazy t oshave. He wore a loose fitted, pale blue shirt and dark jeans like he'd opted to half-ass a suit for work. It annoyed me that he probably judged my attire, sure mine looked slept in, because it had been, well passed out in for a few hours really thanks to that pesky insomnia and a need for distraction, but Tim didn't scream professional in his outfit choice.

Eric gave a soft laugh. "You guys are trying to make H sound scary." He gave me a consoling smile. "He's not like that but he will want to see you before he lets you at the case."

Eric had a brighter, cleaner appearance than Tim, his light grey trousers and pale shirt were neat and fitted and his short dark hair and smooth face suggested he liked to keep his appearance as trim as his attire.

I felt like I had been brought to sit outside the principle's office at school. I glanced about the hallway and saw a waiting chair, all alone without the obligatory coffee table with the standard out of date fashion and home magazines waiting. I reached into my deep blazer pocket and pulled out my tatty eared, yellowing book. "Well, I don't mind having some reading time while I wait."

I flopped down on the chair, swung my right leg over the left's knee, opened up my book and raised it, giving them full view of the cover.

"That's...an interesting choice," Calleigh tried to find a compliment for it and failed.

"Um...it's different," Eric tried and failed too.

"It's messed up," Tim went for honesty.

I smiled. The colourful cover depicted a bloody faced Yeti tearing a park ranger in two. I had a little thing for creature features with the heading in red font – Snow Beast Terror.

The three retreated down the stairs leaving me alone with my book, my thoughts and a sad lack of air conditioning.

Time passed but I don't know how long as I kept focus on my book. As I took in a page about the probably ill-fated park ranger stumbling upon the mangled corpse of a lost skier, steps sounding on the stairs interrupted my reading. I kept the book up but I'd stopped reading. Cowardly me, I wanted to use the book as a shield.

"Detective Moon, I'm Lieutenant Caine, I see you found us okay then."

He waited for me to respond and I knew I couldn't draw it out. I lowered the book and steeled myself against uneasy thoughts as I forced up some cool calm.

"I did."

I had to crane my head up to take him in as he towered over me at over six feet tall. I couldn't get a read on him, he wore a pair of dark sunglasses hiding his eyes from view although I didn't think it mattered as he had an admirably neutral expression, void of any real emotion, and once again I had the feeling of sitting at school waiting to be scolded. He oozed confidence and despite his suit he didn't hold the office bound out of touch aura like Lieutenant Gilligan, maybe it was the lack of tie, I wasn't sure. I supposed ties were formal and even for an office they seemed a bit much sometimes.

He gestured with one to his office door. "Let's go into my office to get acquainted then."

I fumbled in my pocket for the lighter, grasped it and clenched it tight briefly before grabbing at the unused sugar sachet beside it. I put the sachet in my book, closed and pocketed it again before standing up.

Lieutenant Caine opened the door and led the way into a mercifully air-con cooled office with tinted windows to stave off the glare of the sun.

"So, you're here because a recent double murder of ours might have a murderer you're familiar with." He made it a statement rather than a question and I wondered what he and Mac had discussed about the case.

His head tilted in my direction but I could gain no clue to his expression with his sunglasses.

"That's right," I felt compelled to say.

I didn't know if he was baiting me or just stating the facts, either way I felt a little irritated.

"Detective Taylor tells me the Ace of Spades in Miss Greene's mouth triggered an alert with your department."

I nodded. "Our killer left them at every scene, which is something we never disclosed to the public."

"Anything else?"

"Were your victims missing anything with their photos on them?"

Lieutenant Caine reached up to pull off his sunglasses at last exposing a pair of sharp, focused, cerulean eyes. "Mr King's I.D, Miss Greene was sixteen, if she had a missing I.D card it was fake."

"She probably did," I murmured. "He takes photographs of his victims, not he photographs them, at least that we know, I mean he takes their or photos they have of themselves as some sick trophy, something else we kept from the public."

"And this person also killed a cop, your partner, correct?"

Straight for the jugular. I tensed at the question before I could help it, he'd caught me off guard and my jetlag had only aided him with it.

"His last victim...in New York," I added as I realised the truth of that. "Three months ago, after he killed him it just stopped."

"Now you think he's here, starting it all up again, why?"

I resented the question, if I was such an expert on this killer I'd have him by now. I wondered again if I was being baited.

"I don't know," I tried to keep my voice neutral and my hand went into my pocket automatically to clench at the lighter. "We got too close and maybe they thought that after killing a cop they needed the heat to die down. Why Miami I couldn't say, maybe they have family down here or a hideaway, right now your guess is as good as mine. More likely they've got an urge they can't deny any longer."

Horatio's gaze seemed to burn through me, calm but icy as he held mine. "You haven't told me anything I haven't guessed at."
Ah here we were, at his real question. "Why am I here then?" I asked it for him. "They killed my partner, so outside the CSIs New York didn't have anyone active on the case to send you except me. Why me and not a CSI?" I folded my arms and shrugged. "I guess they couldn't spare them. Truth is I'm the only expert you've got for this and I don't even know if there's one or two of them, male or female, it's different weapons in each case and different victims; nothing is consistent except that they follow urban legends. There's the taking of the photographs and the leaving of their trading card so there's no mistaking it for a copy kill. For such violent kills you would think they would have slipped up by now but they haven't, they're methodical, they don't strike on a whim, and they know who their victims are long before they kill them. They plan all this very carefully."

I slackened my stance again, hating how I was defensive before him because he'd implied I had nothing new to bring.

"I'm only here, let's not make a judgement of each other in five minutes, seems hasty. I get it, I'm on your turf, everyone's curious and unhappy about it," I shrugged again, "and if I thought this was a copycat or unrelated to the Suburban Legends Killer I'd hop back on the plane to New York and leave you to it but we're not going to be that lucky. So, let me get a look at your evidence and I'll tell you what I think."

Lieutenant Caine gave me a smile, throwing me off-guard all over again. "Alright Detective Moon, let's go take a look at the evidence."

He gestured for the door and I kept back a frown. "I appreciate the chivalry of ladies first but I don't know where we're heading."

His smile widened. "Of course, I'll lead then."

He headed out the office door and I followed, missing the air con immediately as the heat of the hall hit me.

"Did you have a good flight detective?"

Oh God, small talk. It rankled at me and I wondered if he was being polite but suspected he wasn't. He was a lieutenant and Mac had spoken highly of him to me before we had left, Caine was intelligent, this was probably a character test or something.

"Sure."

"And you have accommodation okay?" Ah another Stetler, interested in my address then. I could only hope Ruby would be home tonight as promised, my suitcase sat in the trunk of my rental as I had come straight here from the hotel.

"Yes."

I glanced up to see him still smiling, apparently amused by one worded responses.

We descended downwards and re-entered blissful coolness. The lieutenant directed me through to a changing area. "I'll get you a lab coat and gloves," he offered. "You can use one of the lockers for your jacket and necklace."

Necklace. I reached up to brush my fingertips instinctively against the coin charmed necklace there and shook my head.

"This doesn't come off."

Horatio tilted his head to give me an odd look. He didn't pry, instead he headed through another door leaving me with my thoughts for a moment.

I cursed myself internally as I dropped my hand back to my side. I had given him something about myself despite my best efforts. He'd ponder the necklace probably, too smart to think it mere vanity but I wasn't take it off. I didn't need anyone here seeing the scars.