Ok here is the first chapter of a fic that I have been working on with the help of the very talented Val!!
You're awesome girl :)
Disclaimer: I don't own them...so please don't sue me!!
Horatio Caine looked up at the sky, despite the early hour the sun had a burning quality and the day promised to be hot. In a reflex-like gesture he slipped his glasses on before his eyes roamed over the group of by-standers waiting behind the yellow tape. This neighborhood was a quiet one, in a matter of seconds after the arrival of the police curious neighbors had flocked. A little further the camera team of a local television station was busy filming the crowd while a model-like journalist was going through her notes. With an annoyed clack of his tongue Horatio resolutely walked toward his team.
"Eric, when you take pictures of the surrounding area, I want you to take good shots of the people on the other side of the road."
"You think our murderer is among them?" Eric wondered, his eyes automatically focusing on the small crowd.
"Let's not take any chance with that." Horatio turned towards Calleigh. "Let's go inside and see what Frank and Alexx have to tell us about our vic."
They walked quietly inside the house in search of their friends. They found them in the main room, Alexx tending to the body with Frank nearby.
"Frank? What do we have?" Horatio's eyes were glued to the body at his feet. A muscle in his cheek twitched at the horror in front of him. He heard Calleigh's intake of breath as she came standing next to him.
"Vic's name is Keith Elkin. UPS guy found him this morning." Frank's voice sounded slightly off, only sign of his emotion. "When no one answered the door he peeked through the window, saw our guy tied to a chair all bloody; called 911."
Horatio frowned at the detective's sequence of events. Finally breaking free from the horror in front of him, his eyes went to the window Frank had pointed at.
"Why is he on the floor then?"
"He was still alive when the paramedics showed." Frank answered. "They did their best but he died from his wounds."
"So it is possible the killer was still here when the delivery man showed." Calleigh's voice was barely louder than a whisper. The horror of the scene had taken her by surprise. The foyer and the rooms they had walked past had looked completely untouched but the living room was a mess. A large pool of blood was next to a chair which had been placed in the middle of the room. Part of the furniture had resolutely been moved from their original position.
"The UPS guy thought he saw a shadow when he peeked in but he couldn't be sure." Frank confirmed. "We found signs of a struggle in the bedroom but no indication of forced entry."
"Ok, thank you Frank." Horatio looked at the woman crouching over the body. "Alexx, what do we have?"
"A mess is what we have." She noted shaking her head in disgust. "Killer took his time and he definitely knows how to inflict pain. I don't think he missed one single nerve. He poked, probed, beat and stabbed. He played his victim with a knife like a virtuoso plays the violin. I lost count of the stab wounds. I wouldn't be surprised if he used more than one weapon to inflict these injuries. There are also some indications of what look like cigarette burns on his forearms and chest. I'll know more once I get him on the table."
"Thank you ma'am." Horatio smiled at the ME and turned towards Eric. "Eric? What do we have" The young man stopped snapping.
"I took pictures of the surroundings like you told me. We should be able to work on those at the lab. If anyone was there who shouldn't have been, we'll find out." Horatio nodded.
"The only footprints I saw were probably those of the UPS guy, but we'll have to get his shoes to be absolutely certain. I didn't see any indication of forced entry but it looks like our vic put up fight before he was finally overpowered. The carpet in the bedroom is witness of that. I'd say our killer got him just before he went to bed."
"That means... our man was probably tortured for at least ten hours..." Horatio drawled. "We need to document the scene very carefully. The killer took an infinite care in the setting of that room. He wanted the victim to be found. He's making a statement."
"You know this scene reminds me of a case we had a few weeks ago." Calleigh quipped in.
"The woman found in her home." Eric nodded remembering the details Ryan had shared with him.
"Yeah. The killer placed a chair in the middle of the family room and tied her to it. She was stabbed and her throat slit open. Maybe they are not linked, but..." She stayed silent for a moment. "I just can't shake off the feeling. We never did find the perp"
"Ok well let's keep that in mind." Horatio agreed.
"You think we might have a serial?" Eric wondered
"It's possible but right now let's treat this….." Before he was able to finish his sentence, Calleigh cut him him off.
"Horatio." He turned around in time to see a well dressed man enter the house. Everything about his bearing and countenance screamed FBI. His eyes swept across the room nonchalantly taking in the scene as though he had seen its likes a hundred times. When his gaze finally fell on Calleigh his expression changed. Their eyes held each other for an instant before the young woman looked at Horatio for guidance.
"I'm looking for Lieutenant Horatio Caine." The quiet but firm statement resounded in the silent room.
"I'm Horatio Caine." He calmly stated, certain of what was to come.
"Special Agent Stellers, FBI." The man introduced himself with a half smirk, satisfied by the defying look he saw on the older man's face. "And this is Special Agent Lansen." The man in his late twenties who had followed Stellers in the house nodded in greeting.
"Agent Stellers if you are here to take over this case..." Horatio continued.
"That is exactly why we are here." He stopped him rather abruptly. "This is the eighth victim we believe to be linked to a serial killer whom we've been tracking for over a year"
"Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"We needed to be absolutely sure it was the same killer and not a copycat. As of now, the FBI is in charge of this investigation." His tone was final and he dared the other man to contradict him.
"We'll see about that." A smirk appeared on Stellers' face.
"I've already spoken to your supervisor. Your lab will process the evidence but our task force is in charge of interviewing suspects."
Calleigh and Eric exchanged a quick look wondering how Horatio would react to Stellers' final statement. His back was rigid, his anger and disapproval blatant for all to see. As Horatio was about to speak Special Agent Lansen walked over to Stellers and whispered something to him. The exchange was short and with a nod, they turned around and left the house.
"Well that was interesting." Calleigh said as the door closed on both men.
"Hmm…to say the least." Horatio agreed.
"What do we do now H?" Eric wondered unsure how to proceed from there.
"You finish processing the scene and head back to the lab." The redhead took his cellphone out as he walked toward the main entrance.
"What about you?" Calleigh called after him.
"I'm going to find out what is going on." With those parting words, he left the house.
Valera closed the centrifuge machine and started it up. She felt an eerie sense of déjà vu when she saw the FBI agents moving throughout the lab. As if she didn't already have enough work to do with all the open cases waiting to be processed, the FBI would now be breathing down her neck for results on a serial killer no one but them knew existed. To say it irked her, would be putting it mildly.
"So it's true the FBI has taken over the case?"
Eric inhaled deeply, his disgust evident "Yeah, it looks that way."
"So we are glorified gophers?"
Eric chuckled a little before getting serious. "We're all after the same thing right? Catch a serial killer."
Valera rolled her eyes.
"Still, do they need to just barge in and order us around? I mean some guy in a suit came in, threw the evidence on the table, said 'process it' and then left without so much as a please."
Eric more than understood where she was coming from. The ordeal with his sister taught him the FBI was more than willing to use and step on anyone who they thought could help them achieve their goal.
"Your Federal Tax dollars at work."
"Apparently."
Valera snorted in reply as the machine beeped indicating the results were ready. Grabbing the print out, she noticed Eric leaning across the table, his wandering eyes moving over the sheet of paper in her hand.
"You wouldn't happen to be here for any other reason than to see 'your' results would you?" she asked pulling the page close to her chest.
"Maybe." Smirked Eric.
"You know I can't tell you…."Valera stopped mid sentence her attention now drawn outside of her lab and into the hallway. "Hey is that Calleigh talking to that FBI guy?"
Eric quickly turned toward the hallway at the mention of Calleigh's name.
"Yeah it is."
"Dan told me Ryan volunteered for the Task Force but they turned him down."
"Really?" he quietly replied.
He was too busy watching the extensive conversation Calleigh was having with the FBI agent to really care what she was saying.
"What do you think they are talking about?"
"I don't know."
"Well here are your results on the Worthington case." She replied, forcing him to avert his gaze from the scene in the hallway and back to her.
"Nothing else huh?" He asked, attempting to charm the information out of her.
"Sorry I like my job." She replied holding out his results.
Feigning a look of hurt, Eric took his results. As he left Valera's lab he noticed Calleigh coming towards him.
"Hey."
"Hey Eric." Calleigh smiled, pleased to see him.
"What was that all about?" Eric indicated the spot of her former conversation.
"He asked for some general information about the case." She nonchalantly replied "and then he asked me to join the task force."
"Really?" He asked surprised "Did he say why he asked you?"
"What is this? Twenty questions?"
"No it is just I heard Ryan asked to be part of the Task Force and they turned him down."
Calleigh merely shrugged, unable to explain it.
"Did you accept his offer?"
Eric gave her a sheepish grin.
"Actually I haven't given him an answer yet. I wanted to talk to Horatio to see if he could spare me if I did say yes. And speak of the devil." She said motioning toward an approaching Horatio.
"Calleigh, I understand Agent Stellers has asked you join the Task Force." Horatio's tone was serious as usual.
"I was actually coming to see you about that."
"He gave me the impression you had already said yes."
The look of surprise on Calleigh's face was evident.
"I said I would consider it but only after speaking with you first."
"Did he say why he asked you?" His question a carbon copy of Eric's.
"I was the lead on the case from a few weeks ago and he wanted to compare notes. Agent Stellers seems to think it was the same killer."
Horatio looked down at the floor for a moment. He wasn't thrilled the Task Force wanted to borrow Calleigh, especially considering the current work load of the lab but seeing her anticipation about it, there really was no way he could deny her the opportunity.
"Ok, then you have my permission to join the Task Force."
"You're sure? We've been really busy lately."
"I'm sure Eric, Ryan and Ms. Boa Vista can handle it and if not I will pull someone from the night shift." He looked to Eric for confirmation.
Eric nodded.
"Ok." Calleigh smiled in a pleasing manner, happy to have Horaio's approval.
Stellers and Special Agent Larson watched the conversation between Horatio and his CSI's with a vested interest. Their body language and facial expressions were speaking volumes.
"The resemblance is uncanny." whispered Special Agent Larson
Stellers eyes never left Calleigh's form.
"Yes it is."
"Do you think she will say yes?"
Her looks got his attention but her personal file had told him what he needed. She was a dedicated CSI who would go the extra mile to apprehend a suspect. Even at the cost to her personal safety.
"From what I have read about her, yes I think she will take us up on our offer."
"Even after you tell her exactly why you asked her to join the task force?"
Stellers smirked when he saw Calleigh's pleased expression. She was on board.
"I do."
TBC….Ok let me know what you think!!