Trouble with Friends

Horatio finally found a few minutes during the afternoon to walk a couple of blocks to the nearby diner that most of the team frequented from time to time. The main lunch hour had long been over and that was fine with him, the quieter the better as far as he was concerned. The morning and early afternoon for him and his CSIs had been hectic to say the least. Monday mornings often were, barely finishing with one call-out before another would besiege them. It was the end of the major week of spring break in Miami and Horatio and his team were still sorting through the crimes and their aftermath, never a pleasant time, if you could say the team ever had 'pleasant' times.

This time, Horatio had actually surprised himself as he ordered a sandwich along with his coffee. He chuckled as he down in a booth waiting for his order; looking out the large plate glass window at the traffic passing by he thought, guess I worked up an appetite from all the call-outs. Thankfully there had been only one crime scene concerninga dead body. A young man appeared to have drunk himself to death, at least that's what all his friends told the police when each was interviewed. The M.E. will be able to say for sure, perhaps by tomorrow. Tom Lohman is an odd fellow, but he works with expediency, which I much prefer. Most victims of crime, or even natural death have loved ones that need closure and I try to provide them with that as quickly as possible.

Suddenly a booming voice jerked him from his thoughts, "I can't believe the mighty Caine is taking time out to eat!"

Horatio turned to see his long-time friend, Frank Tripp looming above him and broke out in a smile.

"Sometimes I even surprise myself Francis. Care to join me?"

"Don't mind if I do my friend," answering as he slid in the seat opposite.

The waitress arrived with Horatio's sandwich and a pot of coffee to refill his cup. She asked Frank what he'd like and took his order. After she left, Frank relaxed back into the seat and inquired of his friend,

"Am I getting older or are spring breaks getting worse?"

Horatio gave Frank a short laugh before answering, "I've wondered that myself sometimes; seems it may be both."

Having already finished his sandwich by the time Frank's order arrived, Horatio enjoyed another cup of coffee as Frank ate his lunch. Between bites, Frank asked, "You ready to head to Atlanta in a couple of days for that four day training session?"

"I suppose. I just hope we can finish up some of these cases so I won't saddle Calleigh with a huge workload while I'm off for 'professional development', or whatever they call it these days."

"Yeah, I understand, but since I have to go, I'm glad your name was on the list so we can suffer through it together."

Suddenly, Frank's phone rang, cutting off the conversation. With a mouthful of a hot-roast beef sandwich, he answered in his usual gruff tone, "Tripp."

Horatio glanced over his coffee cup across the table at Frank and knew by the one-sided conversation he heard, that they had yet another crime scene to figure out. After Frank punched the phone off Horatio asked,

"I take it that we have another crime scene?"

"Yep, never ends does it?" he posed, never expecting an answer as he took one more large bite of his sandwich and grabbed his cup of coffee to take with him. "Might as well ride with me, I'm sure your team got the call-out too. DB in a hanger located in the private sector of Miami International."

Both men exited the diner and Horatio walked out talking on the phone with Calleigh, telling her he was riding with Frank, that he'd see them at the scene. The afternoon traffic on the expressway to the airport was heavy and it took Frank and Horatio longer than usual to get there. Horatio hoped that his team wouldn't get caught in backed up traffic. It was crucial in these types of cases to collect the evidence as quickly as possible.

Finally arriving at the hanger owned by Pelican Construction, they both exited the patrol car with Horatio carefully scanneing the area, aware that uniforms had not yet arrived to secure the scene. A middle-aged man with long blonde hair, pulled back in a pony-tail, hurriedly walked toward them out of the hanger as he and Frank approached.

"Thank you for coming," the man greeted, seemingly relieved that the police had arrived. "Jeff Conway," he told them, "I'm the hanger manager for Pelican Construction."

"Sargent Tripp, and Lieutenant Horatio Caine," Frank returned as the men shook hands.

"Did you find the body Mr. Conway," Frank asked.

"Yes. The dead man is inside, in the office, but I've never seen him before."

"So he was not employed by Pelican?" Horatio inquired, postured in his usual sideways stance to the man, both hands on his hips.

"No. I know everyone; I've never seen this guy before."

"Let's go see what we've got," Horatio said as he motioned for the man to lead the way.

Once they walked into the hanger, Horatio suddenly had an uneasy feeling; no one else was visible in the huge building, just two Lear jets that were inside taking up one side of the huge building. Mentally chastising himself for his concern, I really must be tired, he decided and shrugged it off as he and Frank followed behind Conway toward the office.

They were almost there when a side door flew open to their right and a huge man brandishing an assault rifle lunged through the door, spraying the inside of the building, where they were located, with bullets. Horatio quickly shoved Conway toward an aircraft tug and followed him down behind the equipment.

Over the deafening hail of bullets, Horatio looked at the man sprawled beside him on the concrete and quickly asked, "Are you alright?" as he pulled out his service weapon, sliding the safety off.

The man turned his head toward Horatio and replied in a shaky voice, "I…I think so."

"Stay down and stay here." Horatio whispered and then eased out to where he could get a possible bearing on where the intruders were located. The amount of gunfire signified that several more had joined the first one. Glancing across the open area, he saw where Frank was crouched down behind a stack of crates. Frank signaled that he was alright.

Suddenly, the firing stopped and a man's booming voice screamed in broken English, "You cannot get out, you should give up."

Horatio thought, like hell we are. He signaled to Frank that he was going to move around to his left and for Frank to move right. Horatio ran crouched down behind shelving that held various aircraft engine parts and miscellaneous other items, some large enough to provide good cover, as bullets followed his route. Stopping for a moment to listen for any indication of movement, after the gunfire ceased, he noticed one of the shooters behind a truck. Horatio silently moved around to where he ended up slightly behind the man and fired. Knowing the sound would give away his location, he quickly moved further, hoping to locate another shooter to help even the odds. Horatio cautiously crept forward and when he spied another man he opened fire, but missed causing the man to turn and fire, peppering everything around Horatio with bullets keeping Horatio down behind a stack of boxes.

Then over the gunfire, Horatio heard the most welcomed phrase, "MDPD, PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN, YOU'RE SURROUNDED!"

Several curse words resounded loudly in the metal building and Horatio slowly raised his head and watched several men come out with their hands up. The one closest to him included. Letting out a deep breath as he knelt on one knee, his arms relaxed on his other leg in relief, he suddenly heard a noise and looked up into the eyes of a killer. For a brief moment, Horatio saw the man's gun trained on his chest and noticed the man's finger beginning to put pressure on the trigger when a shot rang out and the man's eyes reflected the unmistakable look of death before he dropped the gun and fell flat on the concrete. Looking beyond where the shooter had stood, Horatio saw Calleigh lowering her .45 and then start running toward him with fear evident on her face.

"HORATIO…are you alright?"

"I'm good Calleigh." Horatio answered, slightly chagrined as he pushed up off his knee, as he mentally chastised himself for being so negligent about keeping his guard up in a situation like this.

Brushing off his pants and re-holstering his weapon he looked at her and admitted as he grinned, "It sure is nice to see my bullet girl with her big Colt .45. Thank you...if you hadn't been here…."

"We would've been here sooner if traffic hadn't held us up. You're sure you're alright," nervously asking for confirmation from him again, that he really was ok, holding onto his arm.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw more than concern for her boss flicker across her green eyes. Adamantly answering, but with gentleness he said,

"Sweetheart, I'm fine, just embarrassed. Let's go find out what all of this was about." As they walked, his gentle touch in the small of her back quickly awakened the deep feelings for him that she'd thought she had suppressed.

After speaking to a thoroughly shaken and upset Jeff Conway, Horatio was convinced he knew nothing about the murder, or what the shooting was about. He did tell Horatio the owner's name of Pelican Construction was Joe Miller. Frank walked up next to Horatio, lowering his voice before asking,

"You recognized the DB in the office I assume?"

"I did Francis. He was the second in command of the Haitian mob in Miami." Horatio answered, his stance firm, one hand on the grip of his weapon, the other grasping the badge on his belt as his fingers lightly drummed the gold shield.

Looking back toward the office as his team scoured the area for evidence, and at Calleigh as she gathered bullet casings, Horatio said, "Frank, I think you and I need to pay a visit to Mr. Miller, and find out what's going on."

A few feet away inside the hanger, Ryan and Walter were opening the last crate in the stack when finally the crowbar pushed the lid off and the two men stood, staring in disbelief at the contents.

"Hey H," Ryan called, "I think you'll want to see this."

Horatio walked over and for a few moments quietly stared at the contents.

"This has to be at least three million dollars of street value coke," Ryan exclaimed.

Horatio looked up at his young CSI and answered, "I agree Mr. Wolfe." Quickly turning and walking toward the large opening of the hanger, slipping on his sunglasses as he went, Horatio called to Frank, "Francis, we need to go find Miller now!"

Stopping for a brief moment, Horatio spoke to Calleigh and she assured him that the team would stay until all of the evidence was gathered. Arriving at their destination, Frank parked the patrol car at the curb in front of the high-rise office building in downtown Miami, and then Horatio and Frank exited, walking to the door.

Frank looked around at the large, atrium style lobby and whistled low, "Geez Louise, I didn't realize construction was so lucrative right now, considering the condition of the economy."

Horatio unaffected by the opulence replied, "May be a good reason to supplement your income."

Walking up to a security officer behind the counter, Horatio showed the man his badge and asked to see Joe Miller.

The man quickly responded, "Mr. Miller isn't in right now, may I take a message?"

Horatio realized the young man never consulted a list, nor did he call up to Miller's office to check.

Looking off to the side as if watching the people walking in and out, Horatio growled low, "I suggest you call his office and find out for sure whether he's in or not. This is police business and it would be in Mr. Miller's best interest to talk to us right now," he ended the statement by turning his head and staring firmly at the man. The young man looked nervously between Horatio and Frank before slowly picking up the telephone on the desk.

The meeting with Miller had given them little results, but Horatio picked up on a slight uneasiness in the man's demeanor, a tidbit only someone with long years of experience in interrogation would catch. Driving back to the lab, Frank asked,

"You believe all that crap about not using that hanger for over a year and having no knowledge of anything unlawful going on out there?"

Horatio let out a small chuckle and answered, "Not at all. Do a search on the tail numbers of those two jets that were in the hanger, then check their flight logs for activity, and who was on board."

"Will do."

It was late in the evening when Horatio finally stood up from the chair behind his desk, finally through with the mountain of paperwork. He moved stiffly as he grabbed his jacket before walking to the door and turning off the lights. After pulling the door closed, he thought about going to a bar for a quick nightcap. Considering the day he'd had, he thought he deserved a drink. For a brief moment, he deliberated about going by the ballistics lab to see if Calleigh could still be there, she often worked into the evening like him. Quickly changing his mind, he shook his head and thought; she wouldn't want to go get a drink with me. She's probably left by now anyway.

As he drove, he considered two different bars that were on his way home. Both were more of the classy atmosphere, no loud music or riffraff and he knew the bartenders at both. Deciding on Ralph's, he turned his car in that direction.

Sitting at a corner table in the dark, alone, Horatio allowed the scotch to gently relax him and he was enjoying the easy listening music emanating from the sound system. One of his favorite songs happened to be playing… Beautiful, every time he heard it, he thought of Calleigh when as if on cue, he looked up and noticed her approaching the bar. He smiled as he watched her and listened to the lyrics –

And I know that I won't ever change
We've been friends through rain or shine
For such a long, long time…

She placed her order then sat down on a stool. Suddenly he wondered if she came alone. Was she meeting someone? Why are you asking yourself these things Caine! Of course she's meeting someone. She's too beautiful to be alone. He continued watching her as she waited for her drink. He anxiously anticipated a young man joining her, but one never came. Suddenly, Horatio felt sad for Calleigh. She had evidently come alone to get a drink, but then again, so did he.

As if some unseen force pushed him, Horatio got to his feet; then he walked toward the bar as if he was being drawn to her. Approaching from behind, Horatio eased up beside her and asked, rather forcibly to be heard over the music and conversation in the room,

"Could I buy you another?"

Calleigh turned and looked up to find Horatio standing next to her.

"Hey Handsome," she smiled as her face reflected the shock of seeing him there. "I didn't know you came to bars after work!"

He dipped his head as he chuckled and replied, "I don't usually, but after the day we had…. Speaking of which, it would be the least I could do to buy you another drink, especially since I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for you."

"Hey, we watch each other's backs. I know you'd have done the same for me." Horatio sat on the stool next to her and smiled.

Horatio motioned for the bartender to bring Calleigh another of what she was drinking. He ordered a club soda. One drink was his limit. Then he asked,

"Would you rather sit at a table?"

"Sure." Calleigh picked up her purse and let Horatio guide her to a table, away from the crowd. Their drinks arrived shortly they continued their pleasant conversation. Then, as they were almost finished with their drinks, Horatio gathered his courage and asked,

"Um, I haven't eaten yet, would you care to join me for dinner - maybe Italian?"

For a brief moment, Calleigh sat frozen in her chair, always dreaming of being asked out by Horatio. Oh silly, what are you thinking. He just asked you to join him for dinner; purely platonic I'm sure, just a nice gesture on his part considering the time and all.

"I'd love to. Italian is one of my favorites," she beamed.

Once outside, Horatio said, "We can go in my car and I'll bring you back to pick yours up later."

"Depending on where we're going for dinner, what about you following me to my house and I can leave my car, then you won't have to come back here."

"I was thinking about Rosito's in Miami Beach. Would that be alright with you?"

"Perfect. That's a wonderful restaurant, but it's a little expensive, are you sure?"

Stopping at her car, "Like I said earlier, you saved me from being zipped up in a body bag today." That thought made Calleigh feel weak, causing her to reach out suddenly and grasp the door handle of her car.

Horatio noticed and was concerned, "Calleigh are you alright? Can you drive ok?"

"I'm sorry; yes…I'm fine with just two drinks, they weren't heavy on the alcohol. I'll see you at my house in a few minutes then."

A couple of hours later as Calleigh gazed toward Horatio she softly said, "Thank you for a wonderful dinner and drinks Horatio. I don't know when I've enjoyed an evening so much." Her eyes locked with his as he reached out and gently squeezed her hand. At his touch, all of the pent up feelings she'd had for him for so long came rushing to the surface.

"My pleasure Sweetheart, but I guess I'd better be taking you home; morning will come early," his shy boyish smile suddenly captivating her attention as she gazed into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Calleigh…?" Horatio asked after it appeared she'd drifted off for a moment.

"Oh…uh, yeah…it will," embarrassed that he'd noticed her zoning out.

After arriving at Calleigh's, Horatio, ever the gentleman, insisted on walking her to the door of her condo just to make sure she would be safely inside.

Realizing they were standing close to each other, Calleigh looked up and smiled before softly saying,

"You have gone above and beyond the call of duty Horatio, thank you for a wonderful evening," giving him a friendly hug. She hesitated a moment longer than normal and with her arms still around Horatio, he breathed into her ear replying,

"Thank you Sweetheart." Feeling the tickle of his breath on her ear almost made Calleigh come unglued and Horatio sensed a change in her touch while returning her hug. This is so wrong, but I don't want to let her go. I could hold her like this all night.

Calleigh leaned back in his embrace, lovingly searching his eyes as her breath caught when he leaned down hesitating just above her lips, as if waiting for a protest before continuing further. Not sensing one, he kissed her lips lightly. Calleigh could feel her knees weaken and she held onto him even tighter to keep herself from falling.

After breaking the short kiss, he searched her eyes and before he could say anything, her lips crashed into his and then he felt her body lean heavily into his embrace. With their hands roaming over each other's bodies, he returned her kiss with a searing one of his own, pleasantly surprised when her lips parted slightly, giving his tongue permission to explore the sweet crevices of her beautiful mouth. When they finally broke for air he gasped,

"Calleigh…Sweetheart…are you sure?" he asked breathlessly.

She looked deep into his blue eyes that had darkened with passion and softly said, "Yes Horatio…I want you…I want you to make love to me."

His lips captured hers as he backed her through the unlocked door of her condo. Never breaking their embrace, Horatio reached around with one hand to shut the door behind them.

TBC…