*sigh* seems as if summer-break is definitely over here. The phone isn't willing to keep quiet for more than two minutes. Next meeting is just ahead, but before that I wanna post the next chapter...
Yes, it seems as if some piece of information got Horatio hooked and is now working on his mind. The following should give you an idea, why H had found back to his pitbull-attitudes...
Chapter 06Calleigh had gone to the superstore to buy some things for dinner. Now she put all the fresh vegetables onto the table in the kitchen of Horatio’s apartment and started to prepare something light and tasteful for dinner. Before she started the cooking, she waited for Horatio just a bit longer. After one hour about time, she began to worry, because he had promised to arrive just in time. Then Calleigh heard the opening and closing of the entrance door, the tired sound of a jacket which was hung up the coat rack and the rustling of some papers, while Horatio was sorting the mail, advertising and the newspaper.
Calleigh waited until Horatio would come to the kitchen, but nothing happened and so she decided to walk to the entrance door instead.
Horatio still stood right in front of the sideboard with the mail of the day and stared at the headlines of the newspaper. He did not seem to realize that there was somebody else in his apartment.
Calleigh did not want to startle him and said silently: “It seems as if the body of my love has already found his way home, but his thoughts are still miles away.”
Horatio took a deep breath, turned his head a bit to her and showed a wry grin: “Did you already read the papers?”
“No. - Do they already know each and everything about the case, just before we would have been able to open and investigate it?” Calleigh grinned back.
Horatio turned around to Calleigh completely and slowly moved forward.
“Of cause they do. And of cause soon we will join the armada of the unemployed of Miami.”
When he was close enough to reach her, he pulled her into his arms and for a few minutes they both just rested in this position and listened to the breathing of the partner.
Finally Calleigh managed to slip out of his arms and dragged him to the kitchen.
“Just give me a hand and our meal will be ready within the next 15 minutes.”
Actually Horatio did not have any appetite at all, but he recommended himself to eat something, before his body and brain would quit the good work due to exhaustion.
When they started their dinner, Calleigh opened the talk. It was too unusual for Horatio to stay at the office doing so much overtime, when they wanted to meet at the evening. So Calleigh wanted to find out, what got Horatio hooked about the entire case.
“Frank gave me some info about the talk with
‘brother’ O’Neill. Tripp was quite pissed about the behavior, but explained that there weren’t any hints to suspect him for this murder.”
“Just as before,” Horatio nodded and finally started to explain. “Just half a year ago, Frank got Malcolm O’Neill by the short hairs for being suspected of blackmailing and corruption. There had been involved a lot of people of high places and Malcolm finally got over the punishment, because there hadn’t been enough evidences to prove his guilt. Of cause, our good Sergeant is still pissed…”
“But you knew Malcolm, too,” Calleigh insisted.
“Yep …. Once a day Frank came to my lab and asked me to proceed some fabrics he’d found at some different places, but which looked quite similar. I did him the favor and found out that they were of the same origin.”
“Did that prove anything?” Calleigh asked excited.
“It proved that Malcolm had been together intimately with a woman working for the mayor of Miami. – Of cause this evidence could have proven the correlation between the city authorities and O’Neill, because a lot of orders had been given to one of O’Neill’s companies since this affair had started.”
“But…?”
Horatio was glad that he had found Calleigh. He had missed these kind of talks as long as he had lived alone respectively he had not wanted to share them with any other woman. But Calleigh never got bored about working through difficult cases – even if it was over a delicious dinner. A lucky smile went over his face before he answered…
“He explained that he and this woman had just had a little affair and this was the reason for the transmission of the fabric. Of cause, we had our doubts, but it was a possible explanation, though.”
Calleigh put the dishes on the sink and started to fill the dishwasher.
“And because of the lack of evidence, the case was dropped finally,” she added, but an unhappy laugh made her turn around.
Horatio’s face got this expression she had learnt to be afraid of. He closed his eyes a bit and the fierce grin changed to a sad one. “The story wasn’t over, yet.”
Calleigh stopped in her work and stared at Horatio.
“Three weeks after the case was closed, the young woman of the mayor’s office was killed in a car-accident. A ‘
hit-and-run’-case with no witnesses and no suspects. Just a drunken driver, who’s car never was found…”
“And the evidence?” Calleigh asked.
“No car, no evidence. Some splinters of varnish, some broken glass belonging to an old Mustang. Of cause, Frank and I remembered the O’Neill-case at once and it was just logical that Malcolm would have wanted to get the only person out of his way who could become dangerous for him.”
Horatio’s hands built fists and when he opened them again it left some nail-imprints in the inside of his hand.
Calleigh knew how it looked like inside of Horatio. The anger of being unable to help and to bring the responsible persons behind bars was written on his face. She wanted to divert him a bit and finally said: “What do you think about fetching the bottle of red-wine from the board and to switch on the radio a bit. The music could be better than the TV today…”
Horatio lifted from the chair and with a tired smile and a short nodd, he arranged everything like wanted. At evening-hours most of the radio-stations changed to a music-program with less news and talk-shows, which was highly appreciated after a long day at work.
But when he turned it on and listened to the first sentences he got startled. Tonelessly he called: “Calleigh!”
She came into the living-room in a rush and listened to the program at once. And what they both heard on the radio, made them feel afraid about the next hours and days.
TBC
?? Obviously something very serious...
