Disclaimer: I don't own any of CSI Miami or its intellectual properties (though if they're giving away Rick Stetler...)

A/N: This story takes place after Rio.

Chapter 1—All I Need Is A Miracle

Horatio strode up the sidewalk, studying everything through his sunglasses as he usually did when he visited his sister-in-law. Ray Jr. walked ahead of him, head down, hands in pockets. His uncle knew that that was just Ray's way of saying everything was going as well as could be expected for a teenage boy.

"Hey, thanks Uncle Horatio" he finally said.

He nodded with a slight smile. "We'll do this again next month, Ray?"

"Yeah."

There she was at the screen door, looking at him with those magnificent green eyes. Much as he tried, Horatio couldn't concentrate on anything else when Yelina was in sight. "Back so soon, Horatio?"

"Yelina. Ray Jr. can only eat so many burgers in three hours."

She smiled and opened the screen door. "Why don't you come on in for a while?"

"I'd like that very much."

The redheaded Lieutenant stood in the hallway as Yelina was in the kitchen. He could keep his mind on little else as he watched her back while she poured lemonade into two glasses and brought them out.

"Here. One of the neighbors brought me some lemons off his tree, and I made a batch of lemonade while you were gone."

With that smile he took the glass and took a sip. "Delicious. Thank you."

She sat down on the old blue sofa and motioned toward the easy chair. "Have a seat. Stay a while."

"I think I will."

Neighbors. Neighbors.

Horatio furrowed his eyebrows as he looked out the front window.

"What is it?" Yelina wanted to know.

"That old house across the street?"

Yelina looked through her window as she sipped the delectable lemonade. "Hmm. I see the For Sale sign is gone. Guess they finally found a buyer. That house was vacant for months after the foreclosure. Whoever bought that place got it for a good price, I'm sure." She smiled to herself now. "I wonder what kind of neighbors we'll have. Be nice if there's another family that has some boys that Ray Jr. could be friends with."

Horatio grinned. "I might have to come over and check on him twice as often."

The beautiful Colombian's smile changed from wondering to one of deep longing now. "I would really like that."

"As would I."

Horatio and Yelina simply looked at each other for several minutes.

"How long, Horatio?" she asked with a sadness as she clutched her glass.

"How long for what, Yelina?"

She closed her eyes and dipped her head. "How much longer are we going to avoid how we feel about one another?"

That smile turned to a sadness as well. "Yelina, I—"

She closed her eyes as the slings and arrows hit her heart again. "I know. I'm still your brother's wife. Ray's gone now, Horatio. Why let it go on?"

Because of those "boundaries", somehow it would never go any further.

Horatio took a deep breath and picked up his empty lemonade glass. "Yelina, you make wonderful lemonade. I think I'd better go now."

She nodded. "Thanks for looking after Ray Jr. He really looks forward to those burger nights with you."

As her brother-in-law walked down the driveway to the Hummer, she simply stood at the door. Watching. Longing. Hoping. She watched that Hummer leave until it turned at the end of the street. Just like she always did.

The weight of the world was on her shoulders as she slipped into her tee shirt and leggings. Ray Jr. was just as happy as he could be after spending the evening with his favorite uncle. Her eyes fell on his closed door as she could hear the sound of the Xbox game and his shouting at the screen. She knew he was glad to be back from Brazil. Away from that gilded cage in Rio. Away from the drugs and the favela boys. It was a long, hard road after Ray died. But now they could smile again.

Yelina shut the door to her bedroom, just like she always did. She turned out her light and lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. Horatio had urged them to come back to Miami. He would look after them. And he had done that. But she still longed for more. And she knew that he did as well.

A tear trickled out of her eye. It could be so frustrating at times, she thought, as she sniffed and wiped it away.

And then a strange thing happened. Yelina began to pray. She hadn't prayed quite like this since the danger in Rio. But this was nothing like the little girl in the small Colombian church. This was an open, heartbroken prayer.

God, if you're really out there, I need a miracle. You saved Ray Jr. and brought us back safely to Miami. I wish that Horatio and I could finally love one another. I really wish we could get past those boundaries of his. God, please, if you're real, if Horatio and I can have a life together, I promise that I'll never ask for anything else again.

Silence.

What's the use, she thought. Out of the depths of her mind she remembered the words of her wizened old great aunt back in Colombia who would clutch her rosary while on her knees in prayer every morning until she could kneel no more. With that smile she'd pat little Yelina on the head and remind her that God would always give her what was best for her.

Heat lightning lit up the balmy Miami skies. Her eyes followed the light. Her great aunt was most likely in Heaven now, looking down on her, still pulling for her.

"If you'll grant me this one thing, God, I'll never ask for anything ever again" she whispered as she held the pillow close to her chest. "Amen."

Yelina was jarred awake by a SLAM! The police officer in her reacted as she bolted up from her bed. Bleary eyed and still tired, she squinted at her clock. Half past midnight. She lay back down and closed her eyes again.

Voices. In the street. She didn't recognize them.

One of the things Yelina always appreciated about this little neighborhood was how quiet it was. This was definitely out of place. She put on her sateen robe and, in the dark house she crept to the front window and peered through the blinds.

A medium-size moving truck had parked across the street. Two men slid out the ramp and had begun quietly bringing out boxes and carrying them into the house. As a private investigator, Yelina was naturally curious. She stood and watched for a long time while the two shadowy figures carried in box after box, furniture after furniture, down the ramp, across the grass, into the house. They seemed to take great care in keeping everything secret, private, concealed from the rest of the neighborhood.

Great. I hope we're not getting a meth lab across the street. Mystery always made Yelina uneasy.

She was about to close the blinds and lie back down when she saw something else.

There was a woman. She too looked out of place for this neighborhood.

Instead of the young blue collar families that lived in these small old houses, this woman looked rather highbrow. She was much older. Her back was to Yelina. Even in the middle of the night she stood straight and tall, careful of her appearance. She wore a full-length dress with full sleeves.

And were those…white gloves on her hands? In Miami? At twelve-thirty in the morning?

As someone whose job it was to read people, Yelina couldn't help but notice. This woman had a strange sadness about her. When moving into a new home, most residents would be happy, tired or excited, looking around at their new neighborhood. This woman just looked forward. Sadly. Quietly. Vacantly. Like this was just another stop along the way to her death. In the darkness she watched only the boxes and furniture that marched mysteriously into the house. She didn't seem to care that the movers might be making noise in the middle of the night on this otherwise quiet street. She didn't seem to care that her new neighbors might be watching her. She didn't look like would be interested in making friends. She just stared forward and then dipped her head. Somehow, it was as though her heart was frozen in another place and time.

Something about this woman intrigued Yelina. Was this her new neighbor? Did she have a husband? Children? Grandchildren?

Finally, under the streetlights, the moving truck closed up before it rumbled to a start and then drove off just as mysteriously as it had arrived. The woman never looked up. She simply walked into the house, locked the door, and turned the lights off. The street was just as dark and quiet as it had ever been.

Yelina stared out at the quiet darkness for a long time. Finally she went back to bed. As she closed her eyes, little did she suspect that this mysterious, lonely woman would be her miracle.