PAYING THE PRICE

Chapter 1

Horatio sat in his office, right leg cocked over his left knee, and, careful that no one was watching, rubbed his right side.

Eric had caught him doing it earlier and raised an eyebrow.

"My war wound's playing up."

He said it jokingly, but it was true – a deep throbbing ache, that he couldn't really attribute to anything other than the old bullet wound. Unless he was heading for appendicitis or something. It wasn't serious. It wasn't even constant. Just niggling… Yet the shooting had been over twelve months ago.

He hardly remembered being shot. Well, he remembered the shot itself – like a vicious punch in the gut that had folded him to his knees; the feeling of blood running down inside his clothes; breath-grabbing pain; then an engulfing weakness, that made him want to curl up on the concrete and sleep… Except he hadn't had the chance… He had no clear recollection of diving in to rescue Natalia. The cold water must have dulled any pain. He knew he had struggled to get her out. Obviously he had succeeded, but he remembered only running out of air, the distress of inhaling water instead… then blackness…

He had been conscious by the time they reached the hospital. Not even in that much pain. The bullet had gone into a fleshy part of his belly, missed all vital organs, and tried to exit his flank. A ricochet, most of its power spent, it had lodged just under the skin. A tiny incision, and they'd retrieved it – a fragment, not even a whole bullet. What he remembered most was the amount of blood – a lot for such a mean projectile – and the effort of trying to breathe, while his lungs still felt half-full of fluid.

What else? Arguing with the doctor, of course… He was pissed at being caught in an ambush. Checking himself out, going after North and Toller. And he had felt okay – shocked, shaky, and breathless, but not that bad. He had every belief that he'd feel better as the day went on.

He rubbed his side again. The discomfort had started about a week before. A small sharp pain if he turned a particular way. And this dull ache, that spread when he was tired, encompassing stomach, back, groin, his right leg. The wounds had healed properly – he'd checked that first – small white scars, no sign of infection or anything. He could feel the whole of the wound track, a slight indentation under the skin, and it wasn't there that it hurt. He had a sneaking feeling that there might still be a piece of metal inside him. The bullet had fragmented. It was perfectly possible that there was more of it. Had he been X-rayed? He couldn't remember, but he thought not. With a wry smile, he thought he had probably been in too much of a hurry to get out of the hospital. And he had been hit only once, so any fragmenting would have happened afterwards, despite no bones being involved… Or two fragments had entered together… Both scenarios fairly unlikely, though possible.

He pulled his thoughts back to the present, put his right leg back on the ground, and switched on the computer. He needed to concentrate on assembling the evidence for a case due in court the next week. It was important, necessary, but not that interesting. He stood up to get some coffee, and flinched slightly – again that little stab of pain. He tried to decide whether it was getting worse… but probably not. Some days, he didn't feel it at all. Today, he just hadn't got much else to occupy his brain. Thinking too much, Horatio…

He had been working for almost an hour when his phone rang.

"Frank?"

"Got a body in Lummus Park. You want to come?"

He was grateful for the break. "See you downstairs. How can you hide a body in Lummus Park? It's like a freeway…"

"Didn't say it was hidden…"

The police tape surrounding the body was holding back a considerable crowd, but that was to be expected in South Beach, even off-season. The body of a young girl, clad only in a bikini, lay on the grass. She seemed unmarked, her face peaceful.

"She looks asleep…" Horatio mused.

"Everyone thought she was," Frank added. "Until someone tried to wake her…"

"Which 'someone'?"

Frank gestured. "Young man over there… He says he doesn't know her. Just thought she was 'hot'…"

"Only she turned out to be cold… which must have been a shock. Do you believe him?"

"Yeah, I do."

Horatio knelt beside the body, looking, but not touching. Neither would he – touch – until the medical examiner had had a look. "Is Tom on his way?"

"Yes, should be here any minute."

Horatio nodded, stood up and approached the young man who stood miserably beside a uniformed officer. "You found her, son?"

"I just went to… talk to her… I thought she…"

"Looked hot, right?"

"I didn't know she was dead! Hell, we've been just over there all morning and she was just lying there!"

Horatio agreed with Frank. "Give your details to this officer." He looked round as Tom Loman bustled into view, then turned back to the young man. "Then you can go. We'll probably need to talk to you again. Are you here on vacation?"

"No, I'm at Dade U."

Satisfied that their witness wasn't likely to disappear, Horatio walked back to the body.

"Tom…"

"Horatio… Busy place for a body dump… Mmm… Rigor's just setting in…"

"Rough time of death?" He watched the doctor take a liver temperature, and make a mental calculation.

"Nine this morning… or thereabouts."

Frank murmured. "Fits in with the witness – he said she was there when he and his friends arrived."

"So, Tom… Was she dumped here? Or simply died here?" He knew he wouldn't get an immediate answer.

"Can't tell, but it looks like single lividity… so she probably hasn't been moved." He rolled her onto her side. "No obvious wounds." He looked up at the noisy crowd behind the tape. "I think I'll take this poor lady somewhere more private…"

"I agree, doctor." Then he smiled as Eric bent under the tape and joined him.

"What have we got?"

"Don't really know, Eric. Tom's going to remove the body. We'd better go over the area… though I somehow doubt we'll find anything… Frank, any other witnesses?"

"Not any that are admitting it."

"Okay… Can you post an officer to keep the area secure? We'll go over it now, but in case we need to come back…"

Frank went to make arrangements, Tom and his assistant removed the body, and Horatio and Eric stood looking at a bare patch of grass. There was nothing obvious there. They started what was virtually a finger-tip search of the area. It was hot and humid, and, before long, both were running with sweat. They found very little.

"This park's cleaned morning and evening," Eric said, wiping his face on his arm. "Might give us a rough timeline…" He pushed aside some longer grass. "Oh great – a used condom!"

Horatio chuckled. "Bag it. I've got some chewing gum – chewed chewing gum… It's a public park – what do you expect?"

After an hour, they drove back to the lab. The crowds, with nothing to see, had drifted away, but the area would stay cordoned off for the time being. Horatio went to change his shirt, then headed to the morgue, where Tom was working on the body.

"Nothing yet, H", he said. "I don't think she was moved. I can't see any injuries on her – a little bruising round the mouth and nose… My best guess is asphyxiation, but I've also sent samples for a tox screen. Other than that, she's young, healthy…"

"And dead. Any sexual activity?"

"Recent intercourse, I think, but no indication of assault. And no semen, so he used a condom…"

"We found a condom at the park – doesn't have to be the right one…" Horatio mused. "Okay… Keep me posted." He stood looking down at the girl. "Did you take a good picture of her face? I need to see if we can get an ID."

Mentally, Horatio ticked off the processes; finding the cause of death; analysing any DNA, both on the body and on the items retrieved at the site; checking fingerprints, though he had little hope they were in the system; and a photograph… He took it to Frank.

"Can you put this out with your patrol officers? See if we can get an ID?"

"Bit of a long shot…"

"I know, but I'm stuck for ideas. She's probably not in missing persons – she only died this morning… I mean, someone might report her later… I'm clutching at straws."

"Okay – I'll do what I can."

Horatio walked over to find Eric. "I hate these cases," he said. "No ID. No definite cause of death. Not really a single clue."

"They'll emerge." Eric said reasonably. "'Specially when we get cause of death."

"I know… It's just these first hours… When we don't know anything."

Eric nodded, recognising his boss's usual impatience. Then he said cautiously, "Were you serious, this morning? About your war wounds?"

"No, not really. It just aches sometimes… It's nothing, Eric, honestly." He glared at his colleague. "And don't you dare mention it to anyone."

TBC