I apologize for the long wait for this update but after my friend passed away I just couldn't get back into writing even though I wanted to...but now almost 6 months later, this story is back Hope you're all still here and ready to read it...hope you like it
Chapter 14:
It was a couple of weeks later when Kathleen Newberry was found dead in the glades. She had been the main witness in Kyle's hearing who conveniently disappeared on the day. Finding her now dead rose many alarms, with Ron and Julia being the main suspects.
A crowd had gathered around as they pulled the car out of the water, with officers setting the tape while Alexx and the CSIs started examining the car and the body.
'It always makes me nervous when the crowd is so close' Calleigh told Eric as he approached her.
'There's not a lot of dry land to stand on. It's tight' he told her.
'Yeah but it's such a gruesome thing to watch' she told him 'Why would anyone want to see these things?' she asked him. Sure she sees these things on a practically daily bases, but it is her job to do so.
'I don't know' he replied as she started taking photos of the car. It was kind of strange how people didn't seem to mind seeing a dead body nowadays...some even took photos of the crime scene.
'Something's odd' she told him as she stopped taking photos.
'What's that?' he asked her, trying to see what he knew she could see.
'Her SunPass is missing' she replied immediately 'Remember? We tracked her as far north as Boca' she told him. She was sharp and Eric loved that about her.
'Then her car ended up back down here' he continued trying to put the pieces together.
'Yeah that doesn't add up' she told him shaking her head.
'We can check the SunPass archives. It might be worth looking into' he told her.
'Yeah maybe the killer made a mistake' she continued hopeful.
'Okay cool' Eric told her before he turned to leave but as he turned he dropped something from his pocket and Calleigh went down and picked it up, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the piece of paper and then at Eric suspiciously. It was a piece of paper with notes on it. How to process a scene. She looked at him and wondered, what was he not telling her? Why was he carrying out this paper with him? Was he still having trouble remembering things and he wasn't telling her?
They hadn't talked about it. They never talked about his accident. He hated talking about it and it seemed like it was never the time to talk as well, not to mention that with everything that had been happening with Jake and her parents, it didn't leave any room to discuss other matters and sometimes it was just nice to slip into making love and forget everything but this...this she needed to talk to him about it at some point or another. Maybe later tonight when they get home and it is just the two of them, so she folded the paper and put it safely in her pocket.
oooOOOooo
Back at the lab, Calleigh was about to check the photos she took at the crime scene but something was wrong. They were all black. Gasping out loud, getting Ryan's attention, started going through the photos she supposedly took when a pop up of "Better luck next time" popped up on the screen and Ryan checked the camera. Someone was trying to sabotage the case. But why? Who would do that? They went back to the car to check it out maybe they could find something that would help them. They soon realized that the guys that reported the car and the victim busted the lock of the booth so Calleigh and Ryan went to find the boys only to realize that they took a bag that had been in the booth with a lot of cash. Taking the boys back to MDPD they interrogated them about the cash and the possibility of having swapped the memory card but it was clear that they had only taken the cash and they had nothing to do with the missing memory card.
'I was sure it had been them. They did take the money after all' Calleigh said as they entered the lab again.
Their phones started ringing so Ryan and Calleigh took their phones out, expecting to find something related to the case instead they got another surprise 'Solve a crime with Calleigh...what is this?' she asked half laughing half serious.
'I don't know but this link was sent to everybody's email in the lab' Ryan told her not liking this one bit. Someone was messing with them and apart from that, someone was messing with Calleigh and if this was something that was getting personal, Ryan knew how private Calleigh was so he was even more worried about all of this.
'Is it some sort of a joke?' she asked him while he started checking some things on the laptop.
'I don't think anyone's laughing. Come here' he told her and Calleigh walked next to Ryan to check what he was looking at 'Solve a crime with Calleigh or not. Do you want to see how one of Miami's top CSI's solves cases? Keep checking and see the latest bungle Calleigh tried to cover up' Ryan clicked and a video came up showing Calleigh holding the paper Eric had dropped earlier.
'Will you play the video?' she asked him, already feeling her stomach turn in knots. She could see the piece of paper that fell from Eric's pocket and if Ryan said everyone received the link to this stupid website, then that means that even Eric and he was going to know that she has his paper, because she was sure he could tell that it was his.
'Sure' he replied as he pressed play.
'That looks like Delko's handwriting. That's so weird' Ryan said observing the paper in her hand 'The video makes it look like you need help on how to process a crime scene' Ryan told her suspiciously. She could feel herself getting anxious afraid that Eric's secret so to speak would get out...out before she had the chance to talk to him about it.
'Let's just move on from it, okay?' she asked him not wanting Ryan to dig into this any deeper for Eric's sake. Ryan looked confused but did as she asked him 'That video looks like it was taken by somebody in the crowd' she pointed out 'Wait a minute. There's a comment section' she told him pointing at it.
'Some creepy things are being posted about you' Ryan told her as she swallowed hard having read a particular comment.
'Wait. Look at that picture' she told him 'That angle could not be taken from the crowd. It's from my camera, so whoever swapped the memory card is not trying to sabotage the case, they're messing with me' she told him.
'Alright, let's just narrow it down' Ryan told her 'It's clearly not Bart and Duncan, cos you can't send email from booking. What I can do is I can take the email and trace it back to a website' Ryan told her.
'No you know what, let's leave it alone. I don't want these pranks to mess up the case' she told him trying to get Ryan to stop digging into this.
'Calleigh I'm sorry, but the memory card says different' he told her as he turned to look at her 'Evidence has been compromised here, so we need to resolve this to protect the investigation' he told her and Calleigh knew he was right.
'Okay, but let's just get back to the SunPass for a minute' she told him 'Please' she begged him.
'Okay' he told her with a heavy sigh as they continued working on the SunPass. In the meantime, Eric had located the truck driver which seemed to have Kathleen Newberry's SunPass.
oooOOOooo
Calleigh was still in the lab when her phone started ringing. It was Eric. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She knew he was calling about the bloody website and if he knew about the website then he knew she found his note.
'Hey' she said into the phone.
'Are you okay?' He asked her concerned.
'Yeah I'm good don't worry about me Eric' she told him, knowing that he probably preferred to do this face to face instead of over the phone.
'Calleigh...' he started telling her when Ryan walked in.
'I know who did it' he told her.
'Who?' She asked.
'Cooper' Ryan informed her.
'Cooper?' Calleigh asked in disbelief.
'What about Cooper?' Eric asked her. For a moment she had forgotten that Eric was still on the line.
'Apparently he is the one who created the website' she informed him 'I'm going to go speak with him' Calleigh said to both Eric and Ryan.
'Cal be careful' Eric told her.
'I will' she replied and with that she hung up. She knew what he meant. If he was crazy enough to start a website exposing her, who knew what else he was capable of. At the same time, this was Cooper. Someone who they had worked with and considered him to be a friend before he took Speedle's credit card that is and all hell broke loose.
'Is everything okay?' Tripp asked Eric as they drove back after the call ended.
'Not sure' Eric replied 'Apparently Cooper is behind it' he informed Tripp.
'Cooper? Is that son of a bitch crazy or what messing with Calleigh?' he asked.
'I don't know but if something happens to her he better hope I don't find him' Eric replied. Silence fell in the car as they drove back to MDPD and all Eric could do was think and worry about Calleigh.
He didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit.
oooOOOooo
Ryan had figured out who had created the website and informed Calleigh so she went to pay Cooper a visit. She wasn't sure how to feel about all of this...about being here again after the last time they had spoken. She could still see the look in her eyes after he had turned himself in which had led to him being fired and thus all dreams of ever becoming a CSI had gone up in smoke. Now she was here behind his door because Cooper had decided he wanted to get even with her. Taking a deep breath, hoping to talk some sense into him, she knocked hard on the door, waited a bit and then he opened.
'Hey Cooper' she told him before she walked inside his apartment.
'Come right on in, Cal' he said sarcastically as she walked past him.
'Why are you doing this?' she asked him as she walked directly to where he had the monitors with the website opened.
'Doing what?' he asked her.
'This' she told him signaling the monitors.
'I always wanted to start a website. Now I have the time, thanks to you, by the way' he told her.
'Okay look, I understand that you are angry. I also understand that you blame me for losing your job' she started telling him.
'I don't blame you. I used Speedle's credit card, you caught me. The lab can't afford judgement errors, I'm trying to ensure that' he told her.
'You do realize that destroying crime scene photos is an obstruction of justice don't you?' she asked him.
'Your photos?' he asked her.
'My memory card was swapped, but you already know that because I've already seen my photos on your website' she told him raising the tone of her voice a bit getting irritated with how he was feigning ignorance when she knew for a fact he had the memory card.
'Website's a public forum. Any user can post a comment or photo. You can search my place if you want to, but thank you now I've got my next post for the site' he told her as he took a seat and started writing.
'Okay, you know what Cooper? When you were fired, I opted not to press charges. Please, do not force me into rethinking that decision, okay?' she told him.
'I haven't done anything wrong. None of this is against the law' he told her.
'You're not that guy' she told him shaking her head 'You made one mistake, don't make it worse' she asked him.
'I'll see you at the next crime scene' he told her as he turned to look away from her.
'I really hope you don't' she told him before she walked out of his apartment while Cooper started updating the website.
oooOOOooo
It was a very lousy timing having Horatio being extradited to Brazil. With such a case pending and the ongoing investigation, not to mention Calleigh's website, this was the worst possible timing to have Horatio gone. Being second in command, Calleigh was in charge now. She watched him being taken away just before she climbed into the hummer and went on to chase a lead. She had received a new lead so she decided to go and follow it not wanting to waste any time, knowing how sensitive this case was since it possibly involved Kyle indirectly, so she turned on the hummer and went on her way.
oooOOOooo
Eric was walking into the corridors when he spotted Natalia checking out Calleigh's website 'Natalia, what are you doing? This is exactly what Cooper wants' he told her.
'I know, I'm sorry. It's just that this is really scary. Criminals could be studying this' she told him.
'And studying us' he told her.
'He's at it again' she said as she realized that Cooper was updating the website.
'I thought she talked to him' Eric told her confused.
'She did. He obviously didn't listen, cos he just updated the web page' Natalia told him.
Eric started reading 'What a spider?' he said as they read about how Hagen had committed suicide in her lab.
'Black widow? What does that mean?' Natalia asked reading what headlined the page.
'This southern belle has a deadly bite. John Hagen, a decorated homicide detective, performed his own little Duquesne Mutiny, when he committed suicide in this venomous CSI's firearms lab' Eric read. He could feel his blood beginning to boil. It wasn't just about the stupid website, but Cooper was making Calleigh look really bad. He was getting revenge on her for his own wrong doings, and to make it worse, the piece of paper that he had dropped and she picked up made it even worse. It gave Cooper something more to write about and Eric hated that. He hated that he had given Cooper something to use against her, even if by accident. The last thing that he wanted was to have anyone find out about that note. No one knew about it, not even Calleigh and now she did because he was sure she recognized his hand writing not to mention how the paper fell from his own pocket in front of her.
'Oh my God' Natalia whispered 'Has Cooper lost his mind?' she asked, as a picture of Jake popped up next on the page.
'No but he's escalating. Is Calleigh in the lab?' he asked her worriedly as he grabbed his phone to call her.
'Er no. The last I heard, she went to follow a lead on the Newberry case' she told him.
Voicemail came in 'You've reached Calleigh Duquesne. 'It's going to voicemail. Her phone's off. That's not like her' Eric said his mind racing a million miles per hour. It was like having someone racing a formula 1 car in the tunnels of his brains.
'No that's not good' Natalia told him 'What are you doing?' she asked him as she watched Eric inserting something into the system.
'Checking the GPS tracker on her hummer' Eric informed her 'He could have sent her out on a fake call. Her number's changed' Eric said.
'Yeah he could have' Natalia said and Eric turned to look at her, a look of horror on his face that mirrored Natalia's 'He posted her new number' she told him, and Eric's face hardened and his heart sank as he darted out of the lab and straight to Cooper's apartment. Natalia didn't even have to ask him where he was going because she was pretty sure he was about to give Cooper a piece of his mind if not his fist.
oooOOOooo
Eric was driving like a maniac down the roads of Miami as his siren cut through the noise that already filled the busy streets of Miami. His mind was racing even faster. He had no idea where she went and a part of him was angry at her for ignoring the danger she was in. She was so focused on the bloody Newberry case that she was ignoring her own safety and how dangerous what Cooper is doing was for her own life. He pressed on the gas pedal and cursed the cars that stood in his way. All he could think about was Calleigh. He knew that technically not a lot of time had passed by that he could classify her as missing but the fact that the phone went straight into voicemail was odd...that plus everything that every fiber of his being was telling him. He knew deep down in his gut that she was missing, that she was in danger and that he needed to do everything in his power to find her and save her before it was too late, because he didn't even want to go down that road and think about anything remotely dark when it comes to this situation and what it would mean to not find her or to be too late.
Putting the car to a stop, he practically jumped out of the hummer and raced to Cooper's apartment, literally climbing up the stairs three at a time. He knocked hard on the door and when Cooper took too long to open, at least what classified as too long in Eric's head at this moment, he busted the door open.
'Where is she?' Eric barked as he barged inside Cooper's apartment.
'I don't know' Cooper told him before he attempted to escape Eric seeing the fury he was in, but Eric grabbed him and pushed him on the floor, ready to punch him.
'What the hell are you doing Cooper huh? What are you doing?' Eric asked him again, practically shouting.
'I was just having a bit of fun' Cooper told him as Eric grabbed him from his shirt 'Little Miss perfect needed to be taken down a notch, so I videotaped her. So what?' he asked.
'You've been harassing her on the website and now she's missing' Eric told him.
'Calleigh is a big girl, she can take care of herself' Cooper told him.
'Take care of herself?' Eric asked him shaking him 'You posted her new number' Eric yelled in his face.
'It's not against the law' Cooper replied.
'Yeah but what if some felon calls her out to a location huh? You think about that?' Eric asked him and Cooper swallowed hard obviously he didn't 'That's what I thought' Eric told him as he let go of him with a hard push 'If something happens to her Cooper, I'm going to come back here and kill you' Eric told him and with that he stormed out of Cooper's apartment.
oooOOOooo
Sleeping through the night had been next to impossible. He had refused to go home wanting to continue the search until they found something. They still hadn't found her hummer so they absolutely had no clue to where she could be, not even a start. Tripp had promised Eric that he has men looking out for her and that he would call him if they found the slightest hint to what happened to her. It was almost four in the morning and everyone was getting tired and with Eric being emotionally involved, he was even worse. Tripp had tried to make him understand that once they find her, she was going to need him and that was the only way and only reason Eric had finally agreed to go home but once he arrived home, it was like the earth had fell underneath him. His eyes landed on the couch, the same couch they had made memories on, and Eric found himself walking over to it, sitting down, his elbows pushing into his thighs as his thumbs pressed into his eyes. This was a nightmare he was not expecting. He hardly even had the chance to talk to her during the day being so busy with the Newberry case, both of them running in different directions and then they deported Horatio, and Calleigh had become the one in command, and now she was missing...which left him in command, but he was in no state to think rational. His heart was commanding his every move, his mood, the words coming out of his mouth, his actions...
Before when he went to confront Cooper, and threatened to kill him if something happened to her, struck something in him. He didn't plan to say anything of the sort but after the words were out of his mouth, and they echoed in his head, Eric soon realized that he would do good on his promise. He knew that if God forbid something did happen to her and he would never have the chance to hold her in his arms again, he would kill Cooper. Well...maybe possibly not literally kill him, but he would definitely harm him. He would punch him until someone manages to pull him away. It shocked him that he could do that, that he would think that since he is a cop, but Calleigh was the love of his life. They had waited forever to be together and now that they were, there was no way anyone was going to take that away from him...especially not someone like Cooper who had ruined his own career and life.
Cooper blames her for getting him fired, because she simply couldn't close one eye on what he had done. What Eric doesn't get is how could Cooper think she could let something like that slide? He committed fraud by involving their dead friend. A friend both of them still had a hard time letting go of, especially Eric. His words had shown her that he has no idea of the magnitude of his actions, and that was probably one of the things that forced her to report him. Not to mention that Horatio knew about Speedle's credit card and the hallucinations, so even if she wanted to let it slide, she simply couldn't.
Having Horatio in on the credit card issue had helped them solve the mystery of it appearing in Eric's hummer and his hallucinations, and Eric knew that if Horatio was in Miami right now, he would be able to help them find Calleigh. He needed him to get back as soon as possible because Eric knew that the longer they took the find her, the worse her odds get, and Eric simply couldn't deal with that.
OooOOOooo
Waking up the next morning to an early call, he thought Calleigh had called him but when Frank's voice cut through the phone, Eric soon realized that Calleigh was still missing. He informed him that H was on his way. Eric had darted off the couch demanding to know everything while he went to do his business in the bathroom, grabbed his stuff and practically ran out of the door, not even bothering with the change of clothes. Who cares what anyone thinks? All he cares about is finding her, and picking up Horatio was the first step to do so.
Speeding through the Miami roads, Eric went to meet H at the airport.
'Hey...you made it' Eric told him relief all over his face.
'Yeah...a lot of people didn't. What's going on?' Horatio asked Eric having already found out about Calleigh being missing.
'Calleigh was abducted while following a lead. We searched for her all night but we were unable to locate her' Eric informed him. His phone rang at that moment and Eric took the call 'That's Tripp. They found Calleigh's hummer' Eric told him. A part of him was relieved that they finally found something but the other part of him was worried because there was no sign of her.
'We gotta find her' H told him and with that they hurried to Eric's hummer and sped down the Miami streets to where Tripp was standing next to Calleigh's hummer. Her cellphone and her kit were still in the car and bullets were found in her hummer but there was no blood. There was reflective trace, no skid marks. It was an ambush. Eric took a moment thinking about Calleigh. He tried to breathe and keep calm because Calleigh needed him to figure out what happened to her and he couldn't let her down. He needed to figure out what happened to her.
'What the hell do you think happened in Brazil?' Tripp asked Eric as they watched Horatio walk away, snapping Eric out of his own thoughts.
'He didn't say' Eric replied as both him and Tripp watched Horatio walking away 'I'm just glad he's back' Eric told him.
oooOOOooo
Calleigh opened her eyes to find herself gagged and tied up. Her vision was blurry from being drugged and she struggled to focus to try and take in her surroundings. Her eyes settled on the dead body not too far away from her as two men approached her. One of them sat on a chair while the other one removed the cloth from her mouth and grabbed her.
'What do you want from me?' she asked them.
'We want to solve a crime with Calleigh' the man sitting on the chair replied. That told her that these two men had seen the website Cooper had created 'See our poker buddy, Robert, he, emm...he didn't give us what we wanted so he had to pay the price...and then Tommy found your website' he told her.
'Look...you're a CSI, right?' Tommy asked her 'Make it so this can't be traced back to us' he told her almost yelling in her face with panic.
'You expect me to cover up a murder?' she asked them. Tommy shook her hard 'Okay...okay...emm...let me think. You need gloves and we got to bleach the floor. Wipe up all the surfaces for fingerprints, for shoe prints, for any skin trace' she told them. Her mind was racing. They were forcing her to go against everything she believes in and cover their tracks, but her life depended on it. She could tell that she was in serious danger especially from the blonde guy who she hasn't learned his name yet. She was going to have to help them but figure out a way to leave clues for her colleagues to find because she was sure that by now, they had realized that she was missing and they were looking out for her.
'What else?' the man in front of her asked her.
'I need to get the bullet out of the body. They could trace it back to your gun, but you're going to have to untie me for that' she told them. The white man nodded and Tommy cut the ties holding her hands. She crawled to the dead body and started feeling the surface near the wound 'You're lucky. This bullet's near the surface' she told them as she slowly started getting up on her feet. She felt weak and still a bit dizzy. She could feel her legs ready to give away but she needed to find some strength within her.
'Stop. Where do you think you're going?' the man who she still didn't know his name asked her as he pointed the gun at her while Tommy quickly grabbed her arm.
'I need to get something to get the bullet out with' she explained. They let her go and Calleigh walked towards the table, grabbed a fork and started getting the bullet out 'Get rid of that' she told him as she gave the bullet to Tommy and looked away.
'Good. You think you can get the next bullet out on your own?' he asked Tommy.
'Yeah' Tommy replied nodding.
'Why do we need her for?' he asked as he pointed the gun at her again.
'Don't do that' she told him, feeling weak.
'Why is that?' he asked her.
'That bullet smells like garlic' she told him.
'What the hell does that mean?' Tommy asked.
'It means I need you to get toilet cleaner, a lint roller, speaker wire and a black light' she told him. This was killing her inside, it went against everything she stands for but she needed to stay alive and drag this on as much as possible.
'Yeah...we'll get right on that' the man sitting down which Calleigh quickly noticed was the more dangerous type told her 'You know...you should stop stalling' he told her.
'Just trying to do what you asked' Calleigh replied.
'Look...I think we should see what she can do' Tommy jumped in. Calleigh could tell that Tommy was scared and that he was her only hope. The other one looked dangerous and unpredictable.
'Okay...you can be her delivery boy. It'll give me a chance to get to know this bitch one on one' he said in that predatory voice that was sending all kinds of alarms to Calleigh's head 'Go' he told Tommy. The words were still echoing in her head as she watched Tommy leave to buy her the things she requested. It was just her and the blonde guy and Calleigh knew she was in a lot of danger now. She was still weak from being drugged plus he was armed and she wasn't. If only Eric would find her soon.
'I'd smoke that cigar' she told him.
'Yeah I was planning to afterwards...but...' he started telling her as he got closer to her 'If that's what turns you on...' he told her.
'The smell of the cigar will mask the smell of decomp. Unless of course, you want your neighbours calling the cops here' she told him.
'You're not as stupid as you look' he told her.
oooOOOooo
Calleigh was standing against the wall watching him smoking the cigar and then after a while he threw the remainder on the floor 'Pick that up' he told her. She walked over to it, bent down and picked it up but when she turned around he was standing right behind her, looking at her like he wanted to eat her.
'Tommy is out there running errands...I thought that maybe me and you could waste a little time' he started telling her.
'I'd rather die than have you touch me' she replied looking in his eyes. He reached out his hand to touch her face and Calleigh slapped his hand away and he punched her back so hard she fell to the ground. He hit her and Calleigh's body jumped off the floor with the kick as she cried out in pain and then turned her around and bent down, his gun in her face 'Last words. Let's hear them' he told her angrily.
'I don't think you killed the poker player' she cried trying to not look at the gun or him for that matter.
A noise from outside startled him and he quickly grabbed her and Calleigh went to rest against the wall, trying not to flinch in pain. The last thing she wanted was to show him that he had weakened her. Her side hurts from where he kicked her and her cheek was feeling twice as normal, feeling the area soar from where he punched her. He was ready to shoot if the situation called for but Tommy walked back inside.
'Took you long enough' he told Tommy.
'Well it's not like there's a store that sells everything on Earth Seth' Tommy replied, giving Calleigh the name of the predator as he bent down in front of her next to the body.
'I need the toilet cleaner and the stereo wire' she told Tommy then turned to look at Seth 'Would you hand me one of those mugs and a corkscrew please?' she asked him. He grabbed the items and handed them to her, his gun pointing at her and Calleigh tried to focus on the items she had in her hands and ignore both him and the gun.
'What are you doing?' Tommy asked her.
'It's called the Reinsch test. I take some of his tissue and I put it in a solution of hydrochloric acid. The acid will separate the inorganic from the organic molecules. It's basic chemistry' she told him 'Then I put the copper wire in and see if it turns grey' she explained.
'It's grey so what?' Seth asked jumping in.
'It's positive for the presence of heavy metal' she replied.
'From the bullet when we shot him' Tommy said in panic.
'No, a different kind of metal' she replied 'Emm...mercury, thallium, selenium. The atoms from one of those metals will bind to copper and turn it grey. I would say you're looking at an acute arsenic poisoning' she told him.
'Wait...so you're saying we could be off the hook?' Tommy asked her 'Seth, she's saying that somebody killed him before we shot him' Tommy tried to tell him.
'What's the black light for?' Seth asked her.
'It's for our next location. I can tell that this isn't the primary crime scene' she explained.
'No no no...we're not taking you anywhere' Seth told her 'You just told us he was poisoned' he told her.
'The bullet wound is perimortem, ultimately it's up to the medical examiner but the police could charge you with attempted murder which is twenty-five years to life' she told him and his gun went up pointing in her direction again.
'If you make a sound, if you even think about running, I promise you, I will not hesitate' he told her and Calleigh knew he would shoot if she attempted to do anything.
They walked out Tommy in front and Seth walking behind her, holding her, gun in her back. She could see men loading boxes in a truck. She looked at them hoping they would see them, but they were too busy to notice that she was being held at gun point. Tommy opened the car door and Seth pushed her inside as he climbed in next to her. Tommy closed the door, got in the car and drove away.
oooOOOooo
The elevator doors opened and Eric lifted his eyes from the documents he was writing on to see Cooper walking towards him.
'You're not allowed in here' Eric told him as he dropped what he was doing and walked over to Cooper to stop him from getting any further.
'It's about Calleigh' Cooper tried to tell him 'She's still missing?' Cooper asked him. His conscience was finally getting to him having realized what he has done and the danger he had put her in. When he had started the website, he didn't think it would go this far. It didn't cross his mind that someone would kidnap her. He just wanted to mess with her a bit, get her of her high horse, but it had escalated and Cooper was feeling guilty, because Calleigh was right. He was not that kind of guy. He did one mistake, and this website was another mistake, and Cooper needed to fix this, or at least try to help now.
'Yeah she's still missing. She's been abducted Coop' Eric corrected him angrily 'Now what do you want?' Eric asked him trying with everything he had in him not to punch him in the face. To Eric, this is all Cooper's fault and the last thing that he wanted was to stand here and waste his time with him.
Cooper pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Eric 'It's the memory card from the first kidnap victim, Kathleen. I thought it might help find her' Cooper explained as he handed it to Eric.
'Yeah, I hope so' Eric replied as he looked down at the memory card in his hand.
Cooper turned to leave and then stopped and turned to Eric again 'I'm sorry about all of this Delko' Cooper told him. Eric nodded but didn't say anything. He just wanted to find her and hold her in his arms.
Not long after, Eric and Natalia were looking at the photos on the memory card 'There are a lot of similarities between the Newbury case and Calleigh's. Chloroform, both kidnapped from public places...' she went on.
'Yeah and Ron Sarris doesn't have an alibi for either one of them' Eric replied as a matter of fact.
'If we could just get him for murder, maybe we'd find out who he's working with' Natalia said.
'I won't let Calleigh end up like Kathleen' Eric told her...and that was a promise he was definitely going to keep no matter what.
oooOOOooo
They had finally gotten a lead which led them to an old factory. Eric could feel his stomach turning in knots as he hoped to find Calleigh alive and in one piece but when Horatio's voice cut through the silence, Eric was both upset and relieved.
'Got a body Eric' Horatio said 'It's not Calleigh'.
'It smells like bleach in here' Eric replied as he walked over towards the dead body.
'His fingernails have been scrapped. Body is positioned. Clothes pulled in a single direction' Horatio said as they observed the body with their torches.
'Someone took a lint roller to remove any trace' Eric continued.
'Body has been cleaned' Horatio said.
'This whole room has' Eric replied.
'Professionally' Horatio continued 'Which is why they grabbed Calleigh to cover this murder' Horatio said as he watched Eric walk over towards the wall, his torch pointing at it 'What have you got?' Horatio asked him.
'I've got some prints' Eric replied as he placed his kit on the floor and focused the light onto the finger prints. He started dusting them 'Got a lot of prints H' Eric said as he continued dusting the prints, his heart pounding harder in his chest 'It's a number 60' Eric stated.
'60 is a police code for a two-man unit' Horatio told him 'She's leaving us a message Eric' Horatio told him.
'She's telling us she was taken by two men, which means she was alive when she left this room' Eric said relieved. At least he knew she was still alive, but the relief only lasted a minute because as soon as Horatio opened his mouth, all hope was tainted.
'Yeah, but for how long?' Horatio asked and Eric swallowed hard.
oooOOOooo
Calleigh, Tommy and Seth entered the luxurious apartment with the gun still pointing at her. They had taken her to the primary crime scene where the dead guy had been shot dead.
'Now you can see our cleaning job' Seth told her.
'I'm going to need the black light' she told him.
'What do you need that for?' Seth asked her.
'To show you what you missed' Calleigh replied. She closed the boards to get it darker, took the black light and started moving it over the floor 'This is where Robert was shot' she told them.
Seth went crazy 'What the hell man?' he asked Tommy 'I thought you said you cleaned it' he told him, pointing the gun at him now.
'I did, I swear' Tommy replied scared.
'His wound was in the abdomen and based on the amount of blood, I would say he landed face down' Calleigh told them.
'You're right. We wanted to ask him where the next poker tournament would be' Tommy explained.
'So you guys like to gamble?' she asked him.
'No we like the entry fee' Seth jumped in 'Tonight's the big one. Ten guys with 100K buy in each' Seth explained.
'So you were planning a robbery. And what? Robert got in the way?' she asked him.
'Look no, we thought he was our in. We used to play nickel ante games down at the marina. He liked it. When we asked him for the address he like, freaked out' Tommy explained.
'I thought he was trying to make a move on us' Seth told her.
Calleigh walked slightly away from them 'Was Robert using this flask?' she asked them.
'Yeah' Tommy replied.
She grabbed a cloth and took the flask in her hand 'If he was poisoned, we might be able to get something off it' she told them. Go to the medicine cabinet, see if you can find some iodine' she told him.
'Why?' Tommy asked.
'You'll see' she told him. They watched her put the iodine in a glass jar, put the flask in and then turned on the burner.
'Whoa whoa stop' Seth told her 'What are you trying to do?' he asked 'Start a fire, get the cops here?' he asked her.
'Look this is called a fuming chamber. That smoke is supposed to be there. The hot chemical will stick to any print on the flask' she explained before she grabbed the flask and looked at it 'I've got two prints. If you give me yours I can exclude you' she told them.
Seth laughed 'Do I look stupid to you?' he asked her 'You just want our prints so that your friends can pick us up later' Seth told her.
'You know...if you don't trust me now, you never will' she told him.
'I don't trust cops' he replied.
'You can have my prints, I trust you' Tommy told her.
Seth walked away and Calleigh took the opportunity to talk to Tommy 'Look I don't know what he's told you, but this is not going to end well' she told him in a whisper.
'I'm already in too deep, we have no other choice' Tommy told her.
'No that is not true' Calleigh told him 'If you take the flask to the police, give it to them, it'll point them in a different direction. You've got to turn yourself in. I'm telling you it is the only way' she told him.
'I don't know' Tommy said.
'I do. You are not the same person he is' Calleigh told him 'Just find a way to get out of here' she told him.
'What kind of excuse?' he asked her.
'I'll give you one' she replied. He was her only choice, her only chance at surviving. She needed him to go to MDPD with the flask and tell her friends what was happening, what they were planning, maybe they could intercept them. She was running out of time, because she knew that she was running out of excuses and soon there would be nothing else to help her stall and drag it out as much as possible. It was now or never.
'What are you two talking about?' Seth asked them as he approached them.
'We're going to need bleach soon' Calleigh told him.
'You're up delivery boy' Seth told him. Calleigh looked at Tommy and he locked his eyes briefly with hers. She just hoped he would do the right thing this time and help her.
oooOOOooo
'H...yeah house is clean. Not sure if Calleigh was here, but emm...she's not here now' Eric told him feeling his heart sinking. They had missed her again. Tommy had done just as Calleigh had asked him and went to MDPD, gave them the flask and told them everything he knew. He told them that she was still alive and gave them the address to where she was.
'What else?' Horatio asked.
'Hang on a second' Eric replied into the phone as he walked over to the bar 'Got an interesting picture of the murdered victim with the landlord that said he has nothing to do with the poker games' Eric told him.
'He's a liar. Bring him in' H told him.
OooOOOooo
Things were coming together. Paul Evett was the one who had killed Robert. They used to play poker games together and apparently, Robert was the one who was winning all the cash and rubbing it in Paul Evett's face. That case was closed and Seth and Tommy were practically off the hook for that one, but they had committed a bigger crime now. They had kidnapped a cop and held her hostage, forced her to clean up crime scenes in order to stay alive.
They had found the clue Calleigh had left them. The note read 'Club Decent – 6pm'. This was it. This is where they were going to finally free Calleigh.
oooOOOooo
'Just got one last errand and this is going to be over for you my dear' Seth told her as they walked, gun pointing at her.
'The poker game?' she asked him.
'Smart girl' he told her.
'What do you need me for?' she asked him.
'Let's just say, I'm not exactly on the invite list' Seth replied 'Here' he told her.
'My badge' she said as she took it in her hand.
'Get him to open the door' Seth told her. This was it. There was nothing left now. She just hoped Tommy had gotten to her friends because if they weren't here, and that was it for her. There would be no more use for Seth to keep her alive 'Go' he told her.
'Miami Dade PD' she called out as she slammed her hand hard against the door.
'Sorry invitation only' the tall bold man said as he opened the door.
'Yeah here's my invite' Seth told him as he walked past him, still holding onto Calleigh 'Alright ladies, poker game's over. I want all your cash now. Come on' he called out. Her eyes met his, and Calleigh knew that she was finally safe now, because there was no way anything could happen to her now that Eric and the rest of the guys were here.
Eric, Ryan and Tripp pulled out their guns confusing Seth to what was happening 'Drop the guns or I will shoot her' he threatened. Her eyes connected with Eric as she kept her hands raised up in surrender.
'You're not going to get the chance. Now, if I were you, I'd fold' Horatio told him cocking the gun behind him 'Don't you agree Calleigh?' he asked her and Calleigh turned around, hit him with her elbow making him cry out in pain and drop the gun. She grabbed the gun in her hand and pointed it at him 'Clear' she shouted as the guys approached behind her.
'You messed with the wrong people' she told him firmly pointing the gun at him now. He smiled at her that sick smile of his and then he was dragged away. As soon as Seth was out of sight, she felt Eric's hands on her and Calleigh let her guard down, turned around and buried her face in his chest. She felt the guys rub her arms, obviously everyone relieved that she was finally found and safe.
It took a while for Calleigh until she gave her statement and the medics checked her out and gave her a clean bill of health but ordered her to rest and some time away from work. She needed to take care of her now, and Eric assured them that she will take all the rest she needs. He had stayed by her side and when they were finally done there and she could finally leave, no one had to tell Eric twice to go with her. It was something obvious...natural to have the two of them be there for each other just like when Eric had gotten shot, Calleigh had spent some time with him on her own. They took care of one another and this time was no different.
'Are you sure you're okay?' he asked her as they walked outside next to each other.
'Yeah I'm fine' she told him nodding. He could tell though that she was trying to hold it together.
'What are you going to do? Take some time off?' he asked her. Well of course she was going to take some time off. He himself was going to make sure of that, but no one really knew that they were officially together and Eric was just trying to have some casual talk with her, because there were still cops everywhere.
'I really don't know to be honest. I think I just want to go home. Think about what happened' she told him as they stopped next to their hummers. They stared at each other for a moment. He could see how exhausted and broken she was and it broke his heart to see her like this and then she turned to open the car door.
'Hey you're not going home alone' Eric told her.
'Eric, I'm fine. I really am, I promise, but thank you' she told him, her voice soft and sounding almost foreign with weakness.
'I'm not' he replied with all seriousness 'I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you today' he admitted, feeling his eyes burning.
She looked in his eyes, wind blowing her hair 'Okay' she said and Eric smiled with relief as she smiled back at him. He turned opened the door for her and then walked around to get into the hummer as she reached out and opened it for him. Getting in he smiled at her and drove off.