_Calleigh_
Coroner
Whoa, two updates in two days! How good I am! :lol: Here it comes the interesting part, now...
THE TRUTH ABOUT CALLEIGH
Without the sun, the temperature in the basement where Calleigh was locked had sensibly decreased. She wore nothing but her shirt and the clod was becoming unbearable. She could see her breath steam condensing in front of her and the vanish in the darkness. She felt weak and debilitated but she didn’t dare eat anything else. She was standing behind the door, holding the bottle in her hands, ready to crash in on her kidnapper’s head as soon as he’d come in again. It was not a great plan, since she didn’t even know what she would find behind that door, but she was pretty sure she was in some kind of factory, because she could hear some faint mechanic noises coming from above her head.
She didn’t know how it would end, but she knew Ryan and the others would be able to find her soon. She had had the impression that her abductor had been a little nervous and she was quite sure he was going to take her away from there. What if she failed her plan?
She looked around the room and tried to see it as it would be seen by a CSI: there were traces of her blood on the cuffs and on the pipe and even on the floor. Even if that man would be smart enough to clean it off, it still would be found by the guys, just like the rests of what her stomach had rejected. Besides she had hidden the bill of Novecento inside one of the cracks of the wall, where only a trained investigator would find it. She knew she had left enough clues to give the others a track, in case she wouldn’t manage to flee in time. She only hoped she would make it.
She had had to rip the lower part of her blouse in order to hold the bottle without removing any possible fingerprint.
In the that moment she heard a sound of approaching steps. Her heartbeat started beating faster and faster, as she prepared to hit. Hearing the door being unlocked, she held the bottle tighter and gathered all the little strength she had, standing motionless.
The door slowly opened with a sharp creak.
“Here I am, princess.” Said the familiar voice. “Did you m-?”
In that moment Calleigh fling herself towards him, determined to give him a lesson, but the effort proved excessive and I a second her sight went black and she felt like passing out. The sound of the bottle crashing on the floor came faint to her ears.
A pair of arms caught her before she could fall and lifted her.
“What a disappointment,” he muttered, meeting her eyes. “You didn’t like your ivory tower?”
Calleigh could barely stay conscious; her lucidity was fading, leaving her with an unpleasant feeling of helplessness and emptiness.
“You should have told me you weren’t feeling good,” he told her. “I would have brought you to a more comfortable place.”
Calleigh felt cold and it was hard for her to keep her eyes open.
“R-Ryan…”
The man tightened his grip on her body, leaning on her with a sneer on his lips.
“No, princess, my name is Jack, and this is the only name you need to remember. Forget about your Wolfe and his lawn mower. He’s not coming. He doesn’t love you as I do.”
Calleigh felt her head spinning. There was something in that sentence that was causing her memory to run backwards in time.
Ryan handed the suspect a document.
"Your parents' trust fund. It's a matter of public record."
Calleigh was next to him. She cast a glance at the young man sitting in front of the two of them.
"There's a morals clause in there that says if you stay clean and sober until you're 21, you get this...” and she showed him the picture of an island. “Breakwater Key."
"That's a whole island, isn't it?” Ryan intervened. “Wow. My parents are leaving me their lawn mower."
“You!” she breathed weakly, blinking to keep her eyes open.
He grinned triumphantly, heading out of the room.
“Very good, I see you remember of me, in the end.”
He carried her through a dark, deserted corridor. When they reached a big metal door, he shut it open with a food and went down to an empty parking lot. Her sight was dim, but, according to the landscape, she could tell they were quite distant from the city.
He brought her to the only car and put her inside. She tried to rebel, but he was too strong for her; she couldn’t do anything but watching while he took a roll of duct tape and tied her ankles and wrists, then covered her with a blanket. Her bleeding hands hurt and so did her head.
A couple of seconds later she heard Jack start the engine and the car moved.
.
“We have a warrant. You have to let us in if you do not want to be arrested with the accuse of outrage to justice.”
Horatio was facing the watchman with an hostile look.
The man, sitting inside a lodge, read the warrant and gave Horatio a questioning glance.
“Ok, but my colleague will come with you. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine.”
“Hey, Bill!” the man said, turning back. “These people want to inspect the factory.”
A second man, fat and bold, appeared from a door.
“Got it.” He grunted, putting a hat on and joining Ryan, Eric, Horatio and Trip outside. “Follo’ me, folks. This way.”
Ryan and the others followed him beyond a gate.
“What are yeh looking for, exactly?” Bill asked, closing the gate again.
“One of my CSIs has been kidnapped,” said Horatio, observing him through his shades. “And we have reason to believe that whoever took her was here not long before it happened.”
As Ryan could notice, Bill’s expression became genuinely shocked.
“Did you notice anything weird in the last few hours?” Eric asked, while Bill lead them inside the building.
“Nuthin’ ever happens here,” the man growled. “It’s an isolated area and everyone works thirteen hours a day. If some day something different happened, believe me, I’d notice.”
“Are you sure?” Horatio asked, taking his shades off. “Nothing extraordinary happened lately?”
Bill stopped walking and turned to him.
“Listen, I know you’re doin’ your job, but-“ his face suddenly changed expression. “Wait, there’s somethin’… Yesterday night Mr Bradford was here. And I’m sure his car was in the back parking lot a few hours ago.”
Ryan looked up, finding Eric and Horatio staring at Bill with the same hopeful look.
“Does it normally happens?” Horatio inquired, without being able to hide a hint of emotion in his voice.
Bill shook his head and the lift stopped.
“Nah. He usually stays away from here. Not a place for a young heir, is it?”
“Definitely.” Horatio agreed, turning to look at Ryan and Eric. “Is there any place here he could have been? A private office, an isolated room in disuse, an empty stockroom…”
“Well” Bill answered. “There are a few chambers in the basement. They’re empty now, but usually they’re used to stock the exceeding-“
“Bring us there.” Horatio said impatiently.
“Here you are.” Said Bill five minutes later, opening a door to a long corridor and turning the lights on.
Ryan entered first and started checking around. Every door was closed except the one at the end of the corridor. He looked down at the floor and he noticed something that made him shiver.
He bent down, extracting a swab out of his kit and running it on the thick red substance.
“Horatio,” he stammered. “There are blood drops all along the corridor.”
Horatio bent down next to him and studied the sample.
“Damn bastard!” he cursed. Ryan was sure he had never seen him so angry.
They proceeded towards the open door, leaving Eric inspecting the floor in front of Bill.
When he entered the room, Ryan immediately recognized a particular scent among the sugary smell and a strong champagne odour. Several fragments of dark glass were scattered on the floor. Apparently a bottle had been broken.
“She was here.” He said automatically.
“How do you know?” Horatio asked him.
“I can smell her scent.” He answered, running his eyes all around the walls.
“Look over there.” Horatio said.
Ryan followed him to one of the corners: there they found an exposed pipe and a pair of handcuffs, both covered with blood. He felt the rage growing inside his chest, completely overwhelming him.
“If he did this to her, I swear I-“
“Calm down,” Horatio intimated him. “If you want to stay on this case, you can’t lose your temper. You heard me, Ryan?”
“Yes, sir.” He mumbled.
He was trying to imagine what could have happened in there. All the different possibilities were streaming inside his mind, driving him crazy, but Horatio was right. He had to stay calm.
“Someone threw up.” He said, collecting a sample. “And not long after having eaten this.” He added, pointing at the tray.
“Commonly three factors lead to vomit.” Horatio said. “Illness, emotive stress and-“
“Extraneous objects in the throat.” Ryan competed in horror. “D-do you think he-?”
Horatio kept his look on the floor, but it was obvious he was really worried.
“I can’t see any seminal liquids,” He replied. “But I can’t exclude that.”
“I love her.”
Horatio raised his eyes and stared at him in surprise. Ryan returned the look with a concerned expression.
“I really do.” He said firmly. “But you already knew, didn’t you?”
Horatio forced a smile and nodded.
“Yes, I did.” He stood up and frowned as he noticed something in the wall.
“What is it?” Ryan asked..
“It’s a bill” he said. “Pasta and champagne from Novecento. Expensive dinner for a hostage.”
Ryan picked the broken bottle neck and dusted it.
“I have prints here.” He announced, then he noticed the small piece of fabric lying among the glass fragments. “And this looks like cotton… Like the shirt Calleigh was wearing yesterday.”
“Let’s have these samples analyzed.” Horatio said. “If we’re lucky, those prints will match to Jack Bradford.”
.
“We have found where the call to Novecento came from.” Eric declared, entering the room. “Eleven o’clock, this morning, from Bradford Jr’s apartment. It’s in the city centre.”
“Very good. With this and his prints, now we can get a warrant. What about the analysis?” Horatio inquired.
“Valera is doing her best.” Eric answered. “She said she’s be done in-“
“Now.” Valera said, entering the room.
Ryan jumped up his chair and went to her.
“What have you found?” he asked feverishly. He had the sensation something was wrong with Calleigh.
Valera looked unsure and she hid the results from Ryan’s and Eric’s view.
“Horatio,” she said. “I need to talk to you in private.”
Horatio approached her, his brows furrowed.
“What’s up? That’s Calleigh’s blood, right?”
Valera bit her lower lip.
“Well, yes, but… Er… Do you know if Calleigh has been seeing anyone in particular lately?”
Ryan saw Horatio looking at him for a moment and held his breath.
“What’s the matter?”
Valera simply handed him the paper.
“The samples show a considerable lack of iron in her blood.” Valera muttered, looking back and forth from Ryan to Eric, and then again to Horatio. “And there’s also an anomalous amount of-“
Horatio looked up at Ryan, his eyes wide in shock.
“What?” Ryan pleaded, visibly agitated. “Horatio, what’s wrong?”
Horatio looked back at Valera, who was nervously biting her nails, then at Eric, whose expression was as blank and anxious as Ryan’s.
“The other peak” Horatio explained, echoing Valera. “Is Folic Acid.”
Ryan’s face turned white as his brain processed the information. He suddenly felt numb and exicted at the same time.
“Oh my god.”
TBC...
THE TRUTH ABOUT CALLEIGH
Without the sun, the temperature in the basement where Calleigh was locked had sensibly decreased. She wore nothing but her shirt and the clod was becoming unbearable. She could see her breath steam condensing in front of her and the vanish in the darkness. She felt weak and debilitated but she didn’t dare eat anything else. She was standing behind the door, holding the bottle in her hands, ready to crash in on her kidnapper’s head as soon as he’d come in again. It was not a great plan, since she didn’t even know what she would find behind that door, but she was pretty sure she was in some kind of factory, because she could hear some faint mechanic noises coming from above her head.
She didn’t know how it would end, but she knew Ryan and the others would be able to find her soon. She had had the impression that her abductor had been a little nervous and she was quite sure he was going to take her away from there. What if she failed her plan?
She looked around the room and tried to see it as it would be seen by a CSI: there were traces of her blood on the cuffs and on the pipe and even on the floor. Even if that man would be smart enough to clean it off, it still would be found by the guys, just like the rests of what her stomach had rejected. Besides she had hidden the bill of Novecento inside one of the cracks of the wall, where only a trained investigator would find it. She knew she had left enough clues to give the others a track, in case she wouldn’t manage to flee in time. She only hoped she would make it.
She had had to rip the lower part of her blouse in order to hold the bottle without removing any possible fingerprint.
In the that moment she heard a sound of approaching steps. Her heartbeat started beating faster and faster, as she prepared to hit. Hearing the door being unlocked, she held the bottle tighter and gathered all the little strength she had, standing motionless.
The door slowly opened with a sharp creak.
“Here I am, princess.” Said the familiar voice. “Did you m-?”
In that moment Calleigh fling herself towards him, determined to give him a lesson, but the effort proved excessive and I a second her sight went black and she felt like passing out. The sound of the bottle crashing on the floor came faint to her ears.
A pair of arms caught her before she could fall and lifted her.
“What a disappointment,” he muttered, meeting her eyes. “You didn’t like your ivory tower?”
Calleigh could barely stay conscious; her lucidity was fading, leaving her with an unpleasant feeling of helplessness and emptiness.
“You should have told me you weren’t feeling good,” he told her. “I would have brought you to a more comfortable place.”
Calleigh felt cold and it was hard for her to keep her eyes open.
“R-Ryan…”
The man tightened his grip on her body, leaning on her with a sneer on his lips.
“No, princess, my name is Jack, and this is the only name you need to remember. Forget about your Wolfe and his lawn mower. He’s not coming. He doesn’t love you as I do.”
Calleigh felt her head spinning. There was something in that sentence that was causing her memory to run backwards in time.
Ryan handed the suspect a document.
"Your parents' trust fund. It's a matter of public record."
Calleigh was next to him. She cast a glance at the young man sitting in front of the two of them.
"There's a morals clause in there that says if you stay clean and sober until you're 21, you get this...” and she showed him the picture of an island. “Breakwater Key."
"That's a whole island, isn't it?” Ryan intervened. “Wow. My parents are leaving me their lawn mower."
“You!” she breathed weakly, blinking to keep her eyes open.
He grinned triumphantly, heading out of the room.
“Very good, I see you remember of me, in the end.”
He carried her through a dark, deserted corridor. When they reached a big metal door, he shut it open with a food and went down to an empty parking lot. Her sight was dim, but, according to the landscape, she could tell they were quite distant from the city.
He brought her to the only car and put her inside. She tried to rebel, but he was too strong for her; she couldn’t do anything but watching while he took a roll of duct tape and tied her ankles and wrists, then covered her with a blanket. Her bleeding hands hurt and so did her head.
A couple of seconds later she heard Jack start the engine and the car moved.
.
“We have a warrant. You have to let us in if you do not want to be arrested with the accuse of outrage to justice.”
Horatio was facing the watchman with an hostile look.
The man, sitting inside a lodge, read the warrant and gave Horatio a questioning glance.
“Ok, but my colleague will come with you. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine.”
“Hey, Bill!” the man said, turning back. “These people want to inspect the factory.”
A second man, fat and bold, appeared from a door.
“Got it.” He grunted, putting a hat on and joining Ryan, Eric, Horatio and Trip outside. “Follo’ me, folks. This way.”
Ryan and the others followed him beyond a gate.
“What are yeh looking for, exactly?” Bill asked, closing the gate again.
“One of my CSIs has been kidnapped,” said Horatio, observing him through his shades. “And we have reason to believe that whoever took her was here not long before it happened.”
As Ryan could notice, Bill’s expression became genuinely shocked.
“Did you notice anything weird in the last few hours?” Eric asked, while Bill lead them inside the building.
“Nuthin’ ever happens here,” the man growled. “It’s an isolated area and everyone works thirteen hours a day. If some day something different happened, believe me, I’d notice.”
“Are you sure?” Horatio asked, taking his shades off. “Nothing extraordinary happened lately?”
Bill stopped walking and turned to him.
“Listen, I know you’re doin’ your job, but-“ his face suddenly changed expression. “Wait, there’s somethin’… Yesterday night Mr Bradford was here. And I’m sure his car was in the back parking lot a few hours ago.”
Ryan looked up, finding Eric and Horatio staring at Bill with the same hopeful look.
“Does it normally happens?” Horatio inquired, without being able to hide a hint of emotion in his voice.
Bill shook his head and the lift stopped.
“Nah. He usually stays away from here. Not a place for a young heir, is it?”
“Definitely.” Horatio agreed, turning to look at Ryan and Eric. “Is there any place here he could have been? A private office, an isolated room in disuse, an empty stockroom…”
“Well” Bill answered. “There are a few chambers in the basement. They’re empty now, but usually they’re used to stock the exceeding-“
“Bring us there.” Horatio said impatiently.
“Here you are.” Said Bill five minutes later, opening a door to a long corridor and turning the lights on.
Ryan entered first and started checking around. Every door was closed except the one at the end of the corridor. He looked down at the floor and he noticed something that made him shiver.
He bent down, extracting a swab out of his kit and running it on the thick red substance.
“Horatio,” he stammered. “There are blood drops all along the corridor.”
Horatio bent down next to him and studied the sample.
“Damn bastard!” he cursed. Ryan was sure he had never seen him so angry.
They proceeded towards the open door, leaving Eric inspecting the floor in front of Bill.
When he entered the room, Ryan immediately recognized a particular scent among the sugary smell and a strong champagne odour. Several fragments of dark glass were scattered on the floor. Apparently a bottle had been broken.
“She was here.” He said automatically.
“How do you know?” Horatio asked him.
“I can smell her scent.” He answered, running his eyes all around the walls.
“Look over there.” Horatio said.
Ryan followed him to one of the corners: there they found an exposed pipe and a pair of handcuffs, both covered with blood. He felt the rage growing inside his chest, completely overwhelming him.
“If he did this to her, I swear I-“
“Calm down,” Horatio intimated him. “If you want to stay on this case, you can’t lose your temper. You heard me, Ryan?”
“Yes, sir.” He mumbled.
He was trying to imagine what could have happened in there. All the different possibilities were streaming inside his mind, driving him crazy, but Horatio was right. He had to stay calm.
“Someone threw up.” He said, collecting a sample. “And not long after having eaten this.” He added, pointing at the tray.
“Commonly three factors lead to vomit.” Horatio said. “Illness, emotive stress and-“
“Extraneous objects in the throat.” Ryan competed in horror. “D-do you think he-?”
Horatio kept his look on the floor, but it was obvious he was really worried.
“I can’t see any seminal liquids,” He replied. “But I can’t exclude that.”
“I love her.”
Horatio raised his eyes and stared at him in surprise. Ryan returned the look with a concerned expression.
“I really do.” He said firmly. “But you already knew, didn’t you?”
Horatio forced a smile and nodded.
“Yes, I did.” He stood up and frowned as he noticed something in the wall.
“What is it?” Ryan asked..
“It’s a bill” he said. “Pasta and champagne from Novecento. Expensive dinner for a hostage.”
Ryan picked the broken bottle neck and dusted it.
“I have prints here.” He announced, then he noticed the small piece of fabric lying among the glass fragments. “And this looks like cotton… Like the shirt Calleigh was wearing yesterday.”
“Let’s have these samples analyzed.” Horatio said. “If we’re lucky, those prints will match to Jack Bradford.”
.
“We have found where the call to Novecento came from.” Eric declared, entering the room. “Eleven o’clock, this morning, from Bradford Jr’s apartment. It’s in the city centre.”
“Very good. With this and his prints, now we can get a warrant. What about the analysis?” Horatio inquired.
“Valera is doing her best.” Eric answered. “She said she’s be done in-“
“Now.” Valera said, entering the room.
Ryan jumped up his chair and went to her.
“What have you found?” he asked feverishly. He had the sensation something was wrong with Calleigh.
Valera looked unsure and she hid the results from Ryan’s and Eric’s view.
“Horatio,” she said. “I need to talk to you in private.”
Horatio approached her, his brows furrowed.
“What’s up? That’s Calleigh’s blood, right?”
Valera bit her lower lip.
“Well, yes, but… Er… Do you know if Calleigh has been seeing anyone in particular lately?”
Ryan saw Horatio looking at him for a moment and held his breath.
“What’s the matter?”
Valera simply handed him the paper.
“The samples show a considerable lack of iron in her blood.” Valera muttered, looking back and forth from Ryan to Eric, and then again to Horatio. “And there’s also an anomalous amount of-“
Horatio looked up at Ryan, his eyes wide in shock.
“What?” Ryan pleaded, visibly agitated. “Horatio, what’s wrong?”
Horatio looked back at Valera, who was nervously biting her nails, then at Eric, whose expression was as blank and anxious as Ryan’s.
“The other peak” Horatio explained, echoing Valera. “Is Folic Acid.”
Ryan’s face turned white as his brain processed the information. He suddenly felt numb and exicted at the same time.
“Oh my god.”
TBC...
