Re: Kidnapped Chapter 1: Calleigh's Gone
Chapter 6: Cracked
Horatio stared blankly at the doctor for a moment and then whipped around and started running, almost knocking Alexx over in the process. He ran down the several steps of the hospital to the ground floor. He continued to blindly run out and into the streets. It wasn’t until he realized he had six empty shots of hard whiskey sitting in front of him, that he realized where he was.
Horatio was hit with such a wave of guilt. He couldn’t believe he ran from Eric, when he needed him most. Horatio never ran. It wasn’t his style. He dealt with everything, head on. Horatio was the strong rock, no, he was the mountain, that so many people depended on. He put his head in his hands in absolute shame at his behavior. He took his cell phone out to call Alexx, to attempt an explanation. He was about to dial the M.E.’s number when he heard a woman’s voice speaking to him. Horatio looked over at her. She had long, flowing hair just like Cal’s.
“Hey, you look like you’ve had a rough day, can I get you a Calleigh?” she asked innocently.
“What did you say?” Horatio pounced on her, wrapping his hands around her small neck. Everyone at the bar stopped what they were doing and watched the attack.
“Can I get you a cognac?” she croaked. His grip on her throat immediately loosened.
“I’m so sorry. I- I thought you said something else, I-” He looked at his hands wondering what possessed them to harm that woman. The lady in question stumbled backwards, massaging her neck.
“It’s okay, like I said, it looks like you’ve had a rough day. I won’t press charges,” she said. Then, she gathered her things and left. Horatio sat back down at the bar and got his phone out again. He was about to dial the M.E.’s number when he heard another woman’s voice, this one familiar.
“Horatio! Darling, what are you doing here?” Rachel Esteban asked worried, as she walked hesitantly toward the lieutenant. She slowly reached her arm up to his shoulder, giving him a slight squeeze.
“Rachel, hello, how are you?” he asked, turning to her. His words were barely slurred, but Rachel could tell that he was a little tipsy.
“I think you need to worry less about how I’m doing, and concentrate on yourself right now,” she replied gently. For the first time since they had met, Rachel noticed how tired and worn he seemed. She knew how much he’d been through his whole life and had a slight knowledge of what happened in the past 12 hours. She was surprised, in her own way, that it took him that long to snap, and even then, he hadn’t completely gone off the deep end.
“I know how I am. I’m not doing well at all. One of my best CSIs is in a coma, another is in the hospital for a stab wound. A woman, who I’m sure I’m in love with, is in a very dangerous situation right now, and I just attacked an innocent woman. I wrapped my hands around her-” He stopped quickly.
“Oh,” Rachel replied flatly. Maybe she had thought too soon about him not going completely off the deep end. “Well, is she pressing charges?” Horatio shook his head. “Good,” she replied.
“Rachel, I could have prevented all of that from happening if I just protected them more..” his voice trailed off.
“Horatio,” her brown eyes held nothing but care for her friend, “there was absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent any of this from happening. If you had gone to Calleigh’s house, like you think you should have, you could have ended up like your men.” Horatio didn’t respond, so Rachel decided to change the subject in an attempt to rid her old pal of the excruciating guilt he was experiencing. “Hey, why don’t we make our way back to headquarters? You can meet my team and we’ll all come up with a clever plan to catch the jerk who has Calleigh.”
Horatio nodded slowly. He didn’t know how he was going to help her team come up with a plan as he took in his current, drunken state. He slowly stumbled from the high bar stool he had been sitting on, with a little help from Rachel. They made their way to another Hummer H2 from MDPD that Rachel had borrowed to retrieve Horatio. He looked at it strangely, and Rachel told him that someone else would go by there later to pick his Hummer up. She explained that she had found him through the GPS tracking system in his phone. She also went on to say that someone named Rick Stetler showed up, looking for him. Horatio wasn’t really listening until that part.
“Stetler!” he bellowed, scaring Rachel. She swerved the Hummer, nearly missing a road sign. “That asshole! He has tried everything in his power to take down my team! I guess he finally gets his wish.” He angrily slammed his palms against the dashboard of the vehicle, then he turned to Rachel, the fire still burned in his eyes. “Tell me you didn’t talk to him.”
“Horatio! Calm down! What are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?” she exclaimed as she retained full control of the Hummer. His eyes softened as soon as she said her last sentence and he immediately apologized. Rachel’s hand flew to her mouth. She couldn’t believe she had just said that to him, he already had to be feeling guilty enough..
“Oh my gosh, Horatio, I’m-- I’m so sorry. I don’t even know why I said that. It was such a poor choice of words,” Horatio simply waved his hand at her and sat back in the seat, looking out the window. “Horatio, I’m sorry,” she sighed and continued. “Everyone on my team has been given orders to follow yours and my commands, and to speak to no one else, unless advised otherwise by either of us,” she said quietly after a few minutes.
“Okay, thanks, I appreciate it,” he said sincerely. “I’m sorry you had to find me like this, Rachel. I never break, I’m always strong. This is the very first time I’ve ever drank on the clock.”
“Hey, cut yourself a break.” She pulled into the parking lot of the lab. “You’ve been through hell and back before, you’ll be okay. You’ll make it through this just fine. Now, let’s get in there and make things happen.”
The pair walked into the lab, side by side, Rachel supporting Horatio a little, ready to put their skills to the test.
Rachel led Horatio into his office, where he was met by two of the smiling faces of Rachel’s team.
“This is my ballistics expert and weapons specialist, Peri Blomquist,” she motioned to the woman sitting in Horatio’s chair, “and this is my skilled fighter and trace professional, Janna Williams,” she pointed to the other woman leaning against the wall.
“So, you’re the Great Lieutenant Horatio Caine?” Peri asked smiling playfully, as she stood up and walked over to him. She jutted her hand out toward him, “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.” Horatio shook her hand.
“Hi, Lieutenant,” Janna said shyly, also holding her hand out to shake Horatio’s. He obliged and then collapsed into his comfortable leathery chair. He started rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Got a bit of a headache there, sweetheart?” Peri didn’t wait for a reply, as she already knew the answer. “Well, I’ve got just the thing,” she dug through her bag and pulled out a small blue box, “Goody’s Powder! It’ll clear your head up nicely, it will even sober you up a bit,” she added with a chuckle. Peri handed a small pouch to Horatio and a small bottle of Evian water that she also produced from her bag. Horatio emptied the contents into his mouth. The look on his face made Peri giggle with delight, earning herself a disapproving glance from her supervisor.
“The only reason that powder relieves headaches so well is because whoever is taking it is too busy focusing on its vile taste to remember his headache,” he downed the water quickly and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the unwelcome flavor in his mouth.
“Well, I bet it’s working, though, isn’t it?” Peri asked. Horatio glared at her.
“Okay, let’s get down to business here,” Rachel said, taking charge. “Horatio, do you want to tell us exactly what you know?” The red head obliged, and told them all that he knew. The women gasped at all of the appropriate places and were extremely angry by the time Horatio had finished. It didn’t take long for the four knowledgeable individuals to devise a scheme for Horatio’s abduction.
Horatio prepared himself mentally and physically in the next ten minutes before he had to leave for the docks. Rachel and her team were scattered around his lab, letting him have a few minutes alone before he had to depart. He sat alone in his office with about a million thoughts racing through his head, all reverting back to Calleigh Duquesne. He couldn’t wait to see her, but at the same time, he was afraid to. He was afraid to see her hurt, fragile body.
He looked at his watch, impatiently. It was time. He left the lab after a small wave to Rachel as he saw her on his way out the door. He was in the parking lot, about to get into the Hummer Rachel had picked him up in. He knew he shouldn’t be driving, as he was still mildly drunk, but he had to go, for Calleigh’s sake. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her. He had the door opened and was set to climb into the vehicle when Stetler’s head popped into view.
“Horatio, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Who are those people that are lurking around the lab? IAB has to investigate this. Have you seen Eric Delko or Tim Speedle since they’ve been admitted?” He tried to grab Horatio’s arm as he climbed into the vehicle but Horatio closed the door just before Stetler reached him. “Was that an intention to harm an agent, Horatio? You just tried to close your door on my hand,” Rick pressed, trying, as usual, to get a rise out of his rival.
“I am not answering any questions right now, Rick. I have somewhere to be. We can talk later,” Horatio answered shortly. He pulled out of the lot and left Stetler standing in a cloud of his dust.
:lol:
