Thank you so much for all of the great reviews for my last story. Here as promised is my new work, it is a bit of a departure from the style of my other stories, less angst and more drama/suspense. Please note that some of what is written in this story does not strictly follow the cannon of the show and this is deliberate and I hope in later chapters it becomes clear why I have done this.

Pulling up at the latest crime scene, Horatio Caine took another look at the cell phone in his hand. Nine missed calls it said as he winced and placed it back in his trouser pocket. He knew he would not be able to ignore the calls much longer; sooner or later they would come looking for him here in Miami. Opening the driver's door with a sigh he jumped down from the Hummer and walked over to Eric who was crouched over the body. "What have we got?" he asked as he stood side-on, fiddling with the arms of his sunglasses.

The younger man glanced up with a frown, "Another drive by. Looks like it was gang related"

He resisted the urge to ask why, looking down at the clothes of the young Hispanic man he could clearly see the man was a gang banger, the tattoo of a snake on his neck the biggest giveaway. Nodding his head as he made a mental note of the scene, he asked almost as a second thought, "Any witnesses?"

"No. None that are willing to talk, anyway" Eric turned his gaze to the young boys across the street, standing in corners and whispering to each other. "This whole neighbourhood is gang turf. No way anyone's going to want to be seen talking to the cops"

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was murder this morning" Both men turned their heads at the sound of the medical examiner's voice. The perky demeanour of the middle-aged man seemed somewhat out of place in the tense atmosphere of the latest gang-related shooting.

"First impressions, Dr Loman?" Horatio asked as he gazed in to the distance, keeping an eye on the boys across the street.

Crouching down to the body, Tom gave it a cursory look. Checking the pockets he found a wallet and handed it to Eric, frowning he pulled a pocketknife from the trousers and held it up to Horatio. "Looks like the boy was carrying when he got shot"

"Any sign of a gun, Dr Loman?"

Turning the body on its side the medical examiner glanced at the waistband, "Doesn't look like it, unless it was picked up by one of our witnesses" he said frowning as he inclined his head towards the growing crowd across the street.

"Be sure to check that out, Eric" Horatio instructed, the younger man nodded his head before returning his attention to Tom. "Cause of death, doctor?"

"Bullet wound to the upper chest, 9mm of some sort by the looks of it. Chances are it transected the aortic artery looking at the blood pooling. I'll know more when I get him back to the morgue"

"Do that, Mr Loman. And keep me informed" Placing his sunglasses back on Horatio strode back towards his Hummer, stopping as his cell phone rang once more. Private number read the caller ID, he didn't need to know the number, he knew who was calling him. For the tenth time that day he hit the 'Ignore' button and placed the phone back in his pocket.

His thoughts drifted as he drove back to the lab, why was he trying to contact him and why now? It had been years since they had spoken, he'd made a new life for himself in Miami, his past had been kept secret up until now and he planned to keep it that way.

Climbing out from the Hummer he smiled and nodded at a pair of uniformed officers he met in the lobby of the crime lab. Making his way up in the elevator he reached the lab and informed the desk receptionist that he would be in his office if needed. Flustered, the receptionist nodded and attempted to speak, "Lieutenant Caine, sir. Uhh…about your office…."

Frowning in concern he walked closer to the clearly shaken women, "Denise, what's wrong? Did something happen?" His first thought was that a liaison from the US Army had come to inform him that something terrible had happened to Kyle. Horrific images of his son being shot or blown up by an IED flew through his mind.

"Sir, there's a gentleman in your office. I tried to stop him but he was insistent, he said he was from the FBI. I'm sorry, sir" she hung her head, unwilling to look the lieutenant in the eyes.

Relief washed over him as he realised that his son was safe, his eyes narrowed when Denise mentioned the FBI. "Did he give you his name?"

"No sir, he refused to sign the visitors log either"

He saw her bottom lip quiver; walking over to her he placed his hand on top of hers. "Don't worry about it, I'll deal with it" he smiled softly at her, trying to put her at ease. She gave him a watery smile as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

He stalked down the hallway towards his office, ignoring the smiles and the nods of heads of his colleagues. His mind was centred on one thing, tearing to pieces the man who had invaded his office. Throwing open the door he stood on the threshold, side on as he glanced up at the other man, "What are you doing here?" he growled as he fiddled with his sunglasses.

"You wouldn't answer my calls, figured we'd have to do things the hard way. Why don't you sit down so we can talk?"

Glancing up at the older man he closed the door quietly behind him and stood in front of it, still refusing to come face to face with him. "I don't need to sit and we don't need to talk" his voice was low, menacing.

"Look, the word on the street is that the family are back in business and they're looking for you. One of the sons happened to be holidaying in Miami and guess whose face they saw on the evening news?"

He winced at the words; he had changed his name and identity. He'd started a new life here; there should have been no way that they could have made the connection. "What are you expecting me to do, run away again?"

The older man brushed lint from his trousers absent-mindedly as he reclined in Horatio's leather office chair. "That's up to you but if I were you, I'd think about moving on whilst you still have the chance"

"My life is here and so is my family" His firs thoughts were of Kyle, what if the family made the connection and realised he had a son. He knew they would use Kyle to draw him out and in to a trap.

"Maybe you should think about their safety. You wouldn't want anything to happen to them" the other man responded, almost nonchalantly.

"Don't you dare use them against me!" he shouted, losing his temper. "Stay away from me and my family, I'll deal with this myself!"

Getting up to leave, the other man glanced back at the furious red head, "Make sure you do. I can only protect you so much"

"Get out!" Horatio growled as his hands shook with fury.

Calleigh looked on in surprise as she saw the balding, middle-aged man leave Horatio's office. She had heard her boss's raised voice from down the corridor, poking her head around his door when the coast was clear she looked at him with concern. "Everything ok, Horatio? I heard shouting"

Standing with his back to her he attempted to get a hold of his emotions, "I'm fine, Calleigh. Just another suit demanding we jump through hoops for them" Turning towards her he gave her a small smile, walked over and sat behind his desk. "Is there something I can do for you?"

She frowned as she looked at him, it was unlike Horatio to lose his temper at the lab let alone raise his voice to someone. Whoever it was must have really got under his skin. "I was just coming to tell you that Dr Loman has retrieved the bullet from the body, I'm just on my way to the gun lab to do my analysis on it"

Fiddling with some sheets of paper on his desk he kept his head down, "Be sure to keep me informed, Calleigh"

She was even more worried now; his unusual demeanour was setting alarm bells ringing in her head. "Horatio, if something was wrong you would tell me. Right?"

Glancing up at her he hoped that she would go back to her lab and leave him alone. "Yes. I need the analysis done on that bullet ASAP, Miss Duquesne"

Hearing his cold tone she felt as if she had been slapped in the face. Willing herself not to cry she turned around and headed towards the door. "You'll have the results as soon as I know, Lieutenant" she almost spat the last word out as she slammed the door shut behind her.

He winced as the door wobbled on its hinges, he knew he had hurt her and he felt terrible for doing it but keeping them all in the dark was the only way he knew to keep them all safe.