Author: Sam

Story: Speed Trap: 18 of 23

Series: Speed-Burn

Setting: September 20, 2005: Miami: afternoon

Note: none

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

“Whoa, pull over Aiden.”

With a frown, the native New Yorker scanned the road before her, trying to figure out what had bothered Joe. It couldn’t be the red compact; her partner was looking towards the sidewalk, not the driver with the very inappropriate vehicle. As she was going slow, due to the low visibility from the weather, it wasn’t too long before she noticed the kid with the bicycle. They were past him in a couple of seconds, but Aiden was quickly pulling over. “What the hell is a kid doing out in this?” She glanced over her shoulder towards the sodden figure.

“I don’t know, but we need to help him.” Joe turned a weather-wise eye on the horizon. “This can only get worse.” He glanced back at the kid, unfastening his seatbelt, “And we haven’t even had landfall yet.”

Nodding, Aiden also unfastened her belt, noticing that Mac and Stella had pulled their Hummers over as well. “Let’s bring him to that lab, Joe. We can probably use the computers to find out where he’s supposed to be.”

The pair slid from their Hummer, fighting the blinding rain and wind. Joe made it to the child first. As she approached, Aiden watched as the child seemed to instantly respond to Joe. She hung back, letting the tall man deal with the kid; it would be less terrifying than two strangers. Finally, the kid seemed to ask Joe for proof of identification because the man whipped out his lab credentials and showed them to the kid.

With a nod, the small figure in the over-sized rain gear looked towards the last Hummer, Stella’s, when Joe pointed towards it. Joe said something, but the sound was caught by the wind and Aiden couldn’t understand it. With an enthusiastic nod, the child hurried towards Stella’s Hummer; Joe easily lifted the bike to settle it in the unused luggage rack on top of the Hummer. He reached into the Hummer for some of their rope and quickly tied down the frame of the bicycle.

Stella watched in surprise as Joe spoke to the unknown child, showed his identification, then pointed back at her. It took only seconds to realize that their newest team member had decided that the child needed rescuing. Only a couple of seconds more passed before Stella understood that Joe was telling the child to climb in with her.

The woman greeted the soaked child with a wide smile. Once he was settled in the passenger seat, the back had luggage and equipment so room was a minor problem, Stella nodded and pulled back out behind Mac and Aiden. She glanced over as the boy removed a too-large rain hat, revealing soaked red hair and merry blue eyes. He reminded her of Lieutenant Caine, though she’d only met the man once.

“I’m Stella. What’s your name?” Stella purposely kept her voice light and friendly.

“HR,” the redhead grinned then glanced out the window eagerly. “I’m on my way to the Crime Lab; my dad’s a science investigator. He’s the best there is.” The boy was obviously bragging, proud of his father.

Laughing, Stella said, “I’m a science investigator, too. We’re on our way to the lab to help with the hurricane.”

Mischief danced in the blue eyes HR turned on the woman, and she wondered just what the boy was up to. “How?”

“How?” She kept her eyes on the road.

“Yeah, how are you going to help the hurricane? I think its got things pretty much under control right now.” It took only a second before Stella and HR were laughing at his silliness.

As the drive continued, HR told Stella several stories about the families he’d lived with and the wild things he’d seen. Even taking into consideration that half of what he said could just be lies or fantasies, he’d apparently led a very busy life. The boy also had apparently had no stable existence for the first nine years. Stella, being a “system kid” herself, thought she could detect one behind the laughter and excited chatter. The boy seemed so lonely, so eager to please… and the multitude of names and places were another dead give-away that he’d been shunted from home to home through the years.

All of his stories, however, were laced with comments about how fun it was to live with his father, and what a great man he was, and other such telling comments. Whatever had happened to cause HR to lead a gypsy life before had apparently changed. Stella was willing to bet he was living with his father now; she hoped that whatever had caused the man to give up his son in the first place had been taken care of. A drunk or abusive father who’d apparently changed could easily slip back into old coping habits, and that would be very dangerous for the poor, lonely child.

Stella made a mental vow that she would make sure the man was worth returning the kid to. If not, she’d find a way to use the boy’s hurricane plight against him. She hated child abusers.

When they arrived at the lab, Joe directed Aiden around the side, to the back. She gave him a confused look, but he shook his head. “We don’t have the right ID to get in the front doors, and the guards won’t be there to let us in. The morgue should be unlocked, though.”

“You used to work down here, Joe?” Aiden’s voice was curious, but not suspicious. She knew she’d been doing baby-sitting duties on the new tech but trusted Mac and hadn’t questioned the reasoning; most likely Joe’s security clearance hadn’t processed yet. She’d heard of one case that had taken thirteen months to clear and the person hadn’t had any criminal record or even a traffic ticket. It was military service that had tied that person up, maybe it was the same for Joe.

Joe’s dark eyes were sad when he turned them to his companion, and she gave him a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I used to work here.”

“Morgue?”

With a shake of his head, Joe pointed towards the turn-off to the morgue. “CSI; I was shot during a case.”

Aiden looked thoughtfully at the man then turned her attention towards steering into the parking area at the back of the lab. There were several parking spots back there, but only one had a vehicle in it: a dark colored truck with the crime lab logo proudly displayed. Finally, as the pair waited for Mac and Stella to finish their maneuvering, Aiden turned her full attention on Joe and asked, “So, what made you decide to come to New York and become a tech?” She thought that, perhaps, after being shot Joe may have lost his nerve for working in the field.

Looking her straight in the eyes, his own dark eyes serious, intent, Joe said, “I have no idea. I’m in Witness Protection, but they won’t tell me what H and I stumbled across.”

Something clicked. “My god, you’re Miami’s dead CSI?” Aiden’s dark eyes were wide in sudden realization.

“Yeah,” Joe opened the door and stepped into the howling storm. He leaned inside and confirmed, “I’m Tim Speedle. Let’s go.”

The small group of five adults and one child made their way to the double doors normally used to admit bodies on stretchers. They were unlocked, as predicted, and the drenched group filed in, grateful to be out of the storm. As they started removing wet jackets, trying to get rid of the chill that was settling in, a noise alerted them that they were not alone.

It felt odd to have the entire lab to her self. Normally, Alexx didn’t even venture upstairs, the morgue being her domain. When she did pull a late shift or an odd rotation, the medical examiner was far too busy with her patients to wander about in the nearly empty rooms and laboratories. During her regular shift, the place was a hive of activity and it was all anyone could do to find a quiet area, let alone an empty one. Now, though, with the investigators out looking for Horatio’s son and most of the lab staff evacuated until after the hurricane, the Miami-Dade Crime Lab was empty and echoingly silent.

Feeling that it was the perfect time to finish her checks on the morgue, despite having completely readied it before joining the impromptu meeting, Alexx headed confidently downstairs, skipping the elevator this time. She wasn’t afraid of silence or the vast, empty halls, so the clicking of her heels on the tiled floor was more of a background white noise than something she consciously noticed.

What she did notice was the echoing of the morgue’s double doors shutting.

There were very few people who knew that she was there that day, and so there were very few people who would know those doors were unlocked during this evacuation. After all, they were never left open without authorized coroner staff available; that would have compromised the integrity of the lab and jeopardized any evidence stored on-site. Even her car wasn’t outside; her husband’s car was in the shop, so she’d driven her assigned crime lab truck to work in order to let her husband use her vehicle to evacuate the kids. Thus, the only people who knew those doors would be unlocked were the investigators and her fellow medical examiners.

Alexx took a deep breath to steady her suddenly heightened nerves. She knew the sound of her movements would alert the intruder, but that meant she might scare him off, too. Moving swiftly and allowing herself to make the normal sounds of any other day, the exotic looking doctor with the tip-tilted dark eyes headed directly for her office. She never carried a weapon, but she didn’t plan to be without her mace, just in case.

Unfortunately, as she approached, she realized that the intruder was actually between her and the office, moving about in the hallway. It took only a matter of seconds to realize that it wasn’t only one intruder, either; there were half a dozen; she could see shadows playing across the wall, produced by a light one of them must have turned on. There was no way she could take on a half dozen people. It looked like her best choice was to get back upstairs and call for back up before confronting them. Before she knew what happened, though, the sound of running feet on the floor, followed by a woman’s voice, was heard.

“Hey! Get back here, kid!”

HR came pelting up to Alexx, a huge grin on his face, followed closely by a brunette Alexx had never seen before. The sounds of the others joining the chase rang down the hall. Slipping her arms protectively around the red-haired ten-year-old, Alexx slid him behind her and stood straight, looking the brunette in the eyes.

“You’ve found our wayward boy. Thank you.” Her voice was a strict challenge, though Alexx didn’t come right out and tell the woman to leave. She couldn’t kick someone out into the hurricane without proof of a genuine threat. Instead, as the dark-haired, sleepy-eyed woman stopped before her, Alexx gestured towards the elevator. “Let me show you to a place you can wait out the storm.”

“Doctor Woods, I came to help Dad.” Alexx looked down into HR’s eager face and frowned. His smile faltered.

Sinking to one knee, she told him in a very firm voice, “You scared the daylights out of us, HR. Your father took the others out to look for you. He’s worried sick.”

The rest of the group made it to the trio, but Alexx ignored them right then, trusting that they were safe since they hadn’t hurt Horatio’s son. She hugged the boy fiercely and gave him a stern look. “You were supposed to evacuate with your Aunt. She’s worried, too, HR.”

Hanging his head, at last realizing what he’d done hadn’t been brave so much as stupid, the boy shuffled one foot around the wet tile. “I’m sorry, Doctor Woods. I…” he looked up, tears in his big blue eyes, “I wanted to protect Dad. He’s always helping everyone, and no one looks out for him.”

Alexx hugged the boy tightly and shook her head. “You’re wrong, HR. We all look out for your father.” Suddenly, it sunk in that the boy, and his rescuers, were soaking wet. The medical examiner looked at the group with a small frown. “We should get you dry…” As she stood, she reached for HR’s hand, saying, “I’ll need to call Horatio and let him know you’re safe.”

With barely a glance for the team of rescuers, too intent on the tasks at hand, Alexx led the group into the elevator. She noticed that no one had said a word but knew that as soon as she got them settled, there would be plenty of talking to do. Pushing the button for the floor the locker rooms were on, Alexx pulled out her phone and speed-dialed Horatio’s number. She had her back to the group, keeping HR’s hand firmly in hers as she informed his father of the child’s rescue.

Before the woman could hang up her phone, the elevator doors opened. She smiled, clicked her phone shut and led the small group out of the elevators and down the hall. She hadn’t yet gotten a good look at the group, but she was aware that it contained two women and three men, all soaked to the skin. Therefore, she stopped first at the men’s locker room and turned, opening her mouth to tell them where things should be stored inside. The tallest of the lot, dark curls dripping around his head, stepped forward and stopped her before she began.

“Hey, Alexx.”

“Tim… Timmy?” Alexx hesitated only a moment as the memory of a death and autopsy flashed through her mind. The thoughts were quickly pushed aside, however, as she threw herself at the tall man, tears streaming down her face. “Baby, you’re back!”

Speed slipped his arms tightly around Alexx, burying his face into her neck and just holding his closest friend as they both cried.

After a few emotionally charged minutes, Mac cleared his throat and softly said, “Joe? Care to introduce us?”

“Joe?” The dark-skinned woman sounded confused as she pulled away from the taller man.

Looking down at Alexx for a long moment, Speed finally let go and turned to his new team. “This is Doctor Alexx Woods; she’s the medical examiner here.” He didn’t care if he made it sound like she worked the morgue by herself; as far as he was concerned, she did. Gesturing to each in turn, he introduced the New York group to the coroner. “That’s Mac Taylor, Stella Bonasera, Aiden Burn, and Danny Messer. They’re the investigators for New York.” Again, he didn’t care if his words made it sound like his new team was composed of the only investigators the crime lab employed.

Alexx touched Speed’s cheek, worry lacing her voice. “Where have you been, Baby? I… I did your autopsy…” Confusion joined the worry.

Tim explained with a frustrated sigh, “I’ve been in Witness Protection, but they haven’t told me why. What the hell did we stumble onto, Alexx? Was H hurt?” Finally, after a year of trying to survive, Speed allowed himself the luxury of self-anger over not cleaning his gun; it was Hollis last time, this time could easily have been Horatio. As it was, Calleigh’s prediction that he would be the next victim had come eerily true.

“Horatio’s fine, Baby, it’s you I’m worried about. You’re soaked to the bone.” Speed listened bemused as Alexx turned to the others and instructed them on the locker room layout. She turned her face back up to Speed, giving him another quick hug, “It hasn’t changed in the past year. You can show the guys around. They can change into jumpers or scrubs.”

His heart filled with contentment when she cupped his cheek and stared into his eyes. “You get cleaned up and we’ll talk after. There’s a lot that’s happened.” Alexx kissed his other cheek and pulled back slightly, but Speed still had to untangle himself from her. It seemed that now he was back, neither friend wanted to be out of the other’s presence.

Speed knew it would be like that with each of his friends; they were his family after all, closer to him than even his mother.