DISCLAIMER: CSI Miami and its characters are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Beta Reader: Best Ever - theflyingshadow.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Theories
By sinjenkai
Part 1
Natalia Boa Vista awoke to an empty bed, save a golden hibiscus lying atop the pillow next to her. Smiling, she picked it up and smelling its sweet scent. Then turning her head slightly, she inhaled the scent of her lover, Calleigh Duquesne that was still lingering on the pillow and sheets. Closing her eyes and arching her back, she remembered their sweet lovemaking the night before. She resisted touching herself as the memories flooded through her mind.
Sitting up abruptly stilled the thoughts and as she got out of bed, she placed the flower on her nightstand so that she could take it to work. As she dressed, she thought back to the conversation that had taken place in the very early morning hours.
Calleigh had been holding her in her arms and tracing silky, lazy patterns onto her back. "I don't think that we should see each other for about a week or so. Just during this investigation with Jake. I need to keep you safe."
Natalia's head shot up off of her shoulder and she looked at Calleigh. "I don't like this. I wish that you had never accepted this investigation, but I understand why. And it is going to be damn hard to stay away for you. You're my new addiction."
Calleigh had rolled them over until she was lying atop of her, golden hair forming a curtain about their faces. Lowering her head until her lips could gently brush against Natalia's, she whispered. "And you're mine. I want you so much sometimes I can't see straight. But it would kill me if something happened to you. I have to know that you that you're here waiting for me."
"I'll always be here for you. Nothing and no one will keep me from you." And with that Natalia pulled her down for a soul searing kiss that Calleigh could have sworn curled her toes.
Natalia shook her head as she came back to the present. She pulled on a pair of tan slacks and a cream polo shirt that brought out the bronze of her skin and accented her curves. Actually she put on that outfit because Calleigh had told her that she loved to see her in it. Picking up the flower off of the nightstand, she headed off to work, stopping on the way to pick up a latte and a couple of breakfast sandwiches.
She parked the car, took out her items and walked into work. She strode into the DNA lab and laid down the breakfast items and found a glass beaker to put the hibiscus in. Placing it out of the way, but where she could look at it, she grabbed one of the sandwiches and walked down the hall.
As she turned the corner, she saw Calleigh appear at the other end of the hall. Natalia smiled and started to say something, when Jake Berkley turned the corner right behind Calleigh and reached out to drape his arm across her shoulders.
"Morning good looking. Sorry that I didn't make it by last night. Something came up. How about dinner tonight?"
"Sure" was all that Calleigh said as Natalia walked by.
"Great! There's a restaurant that I've been dying to try out, have you been to Infinite yet?"
Calleigh had to restrain herself from yanking away from him. They couldn't go to Infinite. That was their place. The place that her and Natalia had first gone to as a couple.
"Yeah, I've been there. We probably won't be able to get in. You need to get reservations and from what I understand, there're booked solid for a while. How about that Italian place that we used to go to? I have been craving Spaghetti a la Bruzzi for weeks."
Jake gave her a swat on the butt as he walked off. "OK, I'll pick you up at 6."
Natalia continued walking past them and as trashcan came up on her right, she tossed in the sandwich and walked back to her lab while Calleigh walked into the Ballistics lab.
Calleigh walked over to her desk and leaned against her desk, hanging her head. 'This is going to be harder than I thought. Being with him and seeing her everyday. I don't know if I can make it…'
Right then her phone rang. "Ballistics, Duquesne."
The voice on the other end said. "We can get through this."
As soon as she heard Natalia's voice on the other end, Calleigh straighten up, seeing Natalia in her mind's eye.
"Just remember when this is all over, you'll be coming back to me. And thank you for the flower. I'm sitting here looking at it as we speak. It's almost as beautiful as you."
"You're welcome darlin'. How did you know I needed to hear your voice?"
"Because I needed to hear yours. And I love it when you call me darlin'. Listen, Horatio is headed this way. I'll talk with you later. I love you."
"I love you too."
Hanging up the phone, Natalia walked forward to meet Lt. Horatio Caine at the door.
"Ms. Boa Vista, How are you this morning?"
Natalia smiled. "I am fine Lt. Thank you."
"So everything is ok?"
"Yes sir. And we thank you again for your help."
"Think nothing of it Natalia. I'm here for the both of you if you need it." Ducking his head, he walked off.
The rest of the day went painfully slow. Natalia was busy with two murder cases, and a rape, and DNA was vital to all three. She was putting away the last of some samples when she overheard Jake talking with another detective.
"Yeah, we're back together. They finally relaxed the rule about the same shift dating each other and she came running back. Knew that she would. I mean, come on. I'm the best that she ever had."
Natalia had to hold onto her desk to stop herself from going out there and slapping him. Instead she counted to fifty in Italian and then again in Spanish. Bowing her head, she began to think.
"OK, Jake was the reason that Calleigh got shot. It happened because he showed up at the docks where Calleigh was with her suspect, George Kornspan. Explosive residue was found in the area because of the bomb that was used to try and blow up the nuclear power plant. And that wasn't the first time that Jake had interfered with one of our investigations if I remember correctly. He was involved with an undercover operation with a motorcycle gang that was selling stolen military guns. So why did he show up at the dock where Calleigh was. What's the common denominator here?
Natalia went over to her computer and started pulling up files. If Calleigh was a part of this investigation against Jake, Natalia needed to make sure that she had all the possible scenarios. She was so engrossed in this that she didn't see Calleigh walk in front of her lab, looking at her the entire way and hesitating slightly at the entrance before going over to the elevator.
She was standing there waiting for the doors to open, when Alexx Woods walked up and stood next to her.
"How are you doing, baby girl? Is everything ok?"
Calleigh gave her a wane smile before answering. "As good as it's going to get right now. But my future looks very bright."
Alexx patted her on the back. "I'm so glad to hear that. You both deserve it. You just let me know if you need anything, ok? You know where to find me."
Jake walked up then and placed his hand on the nape of Calleigh's neck. To Alexx, it seemed like he was staking his claim, his ownership and it almost turned her stomach.
"Hi there Alexx. How ya been?"
"Just fine Jake, and you?"
Jake pulled Calleigh closer to him. "Things are beginning to go my way right now and I couldn't be happier."
"Well, I hope that you get everything that you deserve Jake. I honestly do. Calleigh, I've got to get back to the morgue. You come by and see me tomorrow. I'll have the results for you by then."
"Thanks Alexx, I will."
Alexx walked off as the elevator doors opened, and Jake walked inside with Calleigh. Just as the doors were closing, Natalia looked up from her computer screen and locked eyes with Calleigh. They held their gaze until the doors closed. Only then did Natalia bow her head and give a silent prayer to keep Calleigh safe.
Natalia worked late into the night gathering information. By midnight, she had everything that she thought she needed.
"OK. Let's see what we've got. About nine months ago, Jake had been undercover with the Crypt Kings for two years investigating them for arms dealing. A fellow undercover police officer, Ken McCartney had been killed with Jake's gun, but he was cleared of the charges. And then three months ago, he interfered with Calleigh's questioning of George Kornspan and got her shot. He stated that he was investigating a drug dealer, and he used a young woman as an informant and she had gotten killed. And he also never explained exactly what he was doing on the docks that day. And it turns out that Calleigh is shot next to a container that once held explosives."
Natalia reached for the legal pad that she had made notes on.
"Number 1. Jake's gun was used to kill Ken, but the wrong bullets were found in the gun and he was cleared. So that means that either someone knew that he was a undercover cop and set him up or Jake did kill Ken, but used different bullets to throw suspicion off of himself. Logic dictates that if they knew that he was a cop, they would have killed him since Ken was killed because he was a cop. He also admitted that he had used drugs while undercover."
"Number 2. Jake had said that he was investigating a club owner that was dealing drugs and used an informant. Any other cop would have had their informant wired and be listening in, but Jake didn't. And did he expect the informant to prostitute herself to get information?"
"Number 3. The dock that Calleigh had been shot on was the same dock where the Crypt Kings had been selling the guns. How did Jake know that Calleigh was going to be there? Was he there to meet George Kornspan to buy more explosives or something else? Maybe George wasn't planning on shooting Calleigh. Calleigh had told me that she thought that George wasn't even looking at her when his gun went off. What if Jake had gone there to meet George and he found Calleigh there also and had shot George, making George pull the trigger by reflex."
Natalia knew that none of this was enough to convict Jake. It was just too many 'what ifs'. She gathered up all of the notes and files and locked them away in the bottom of her filing cabinet. Stretching, she looked at the clock and realized that it was close to 1 a.m. At least she hadn't spent too much time thinking about Calleigh being on a date with him. Yeah, right! Who was she kidding? She finally locked up the lab and headed home.
At that same time, Calleigh was trying to get Jake into his bed. He had drank during dinner and continued afterwards. Calleigh had driven him home and half carried him, half dragged him inside. Now she was trying to get into his bedroom and at the same time, keep her clothes on, as he had wandering hands.
"Com'on Calleigh, you know you wanna. It's been a long time and I've been thinkin' about it all day. I'm not all that drunk."
Calleigh pushed his hands away again. "Jake, we had this conversation before. I'm not going to sleep with you when you have been drinking. I don't like how you get."
Quicker than she thought that he could move in his state, he grabbed her hard about the waist and pulled her to the floor. Slurring his words as he said. "I don't care what ya say. I know that ya love me and can't live without me. Don't you worry, we're gonna be away from this dump and livin' in style."
Jake proceeded to try and get on top of Calleigh. He started pawing at her breasts and tearing her pants. She kneed him in the groin and pushed him away when he doubled over. With her knees shaking, she slowly stood up and walked away from him. Turning she growled out. "If you ever touch me like that again, I swear that you won't live to regret it. I do care for you Jake, but I'm not going to do this with you. Now get into bed and I'll see you later."
With that Calleigh walked out, locking the door behind her. Pulling out her cell phone, she called a cab. While waiting for the cab to arrive, she called the head of the IAB investigation and told her what had happened during the evening. Luckily she agreed that Calleigh had done the right thing in refusing to have sex with Jake, but then turned around and told her that it might be necessary later on. Calleigh closed her eyes, breathing deeply and replied. "I will not prostitute myself for this investigation. That is not what I agreed to do. I agreed to find out if he is dirty and that's it. If you want me to spread my legs, you've got the wrong person." And with that she hung up.
The cab soon arrived and took her back to the police station to pick up her car. Getting in, she locked the doors and leaned her head against the steering wheel for a few moments. Then taking a deep breath, she started the car and drove away. She was soon in her condo, removing her clothes and grimacing at the bruises that were beginning to show around her waist and breasts. She threw the clothes in the trashcan, started the shower and stepped under the warm spray. She let the warm water erase her aches and pains, while her thoughts drifted off to Natalia. The image of the woman she loved quickly filled her thoughts and soothed away the aches and pains of her soul. After turning off the shower, getting out and toweling off, she climbed into bed nude and set her alarm to wake her in four hours. She was soon asleep with Natalia filling her dreams.
Five hours later, Natalia was unlocking the door to the quiet DNA lab and walking inside. Being the first one in every day made mornings one of her favorite times of the day as it was like the calm before the storm. Going over to her desk, she found a yellow rose atop of her keyboard. Picking it up, she inhaled its aroma while looking around to see if she could see Calleigh. And she did in shadows of the back hallway. They both drank in the sight of each other. Natalia then kissed the rose and held it to her heart and was rewarded with a mega-watt Duquesne smile. She smiled and watched as Calleigh blew her a kiss, then turned and walked away. Natalia placed the rose in the same beaker as the hibiscus.
Calleigh was out at a crime scene a couple of hours later when a whiskey smooth voice came from behind her. "Calleigh, may I speak to you for a moment please."
She turned to see Horatio Caine standing in front of her, head tilted and hands loosely clasping his sunglasses.
"Sure, Horatio."
They walked a bit away from everyone and stopped underneath a palm tree. "Lt. Hale called me this morning and told me what happened last night. I wanted to tell you that you did the right thing. You are not to debase yourself for this investigation and I told them that. You're too important to me, and to this lab, to waste anything more on Jake. And you're definitely more important to Ms. Boa Vista and I won't have the two of you hurt. Do the best that you can without going over that line. By the way, here are some notes that I want you to look over while you're out here and then destroy before you leave."
He handed him a couple of yellow legal pad sheets. Calleigh scanned them and looked back up at him. "When did you do all of this?"
"I didn't.... she did. And don't worry, she has been asked to not do anything else. She just wanted to make sure all of the angles were covered. And she makes some very good points. But rest assured, she had been warned to stop. And go by to see Alexx when you get back. She needs you to examine something." And with that he smiled and walked away.
Calleigh bowed her head and closed her eyes. "What was she thinking? She's put herself in more danger. Oh, come on Cal. You would do the same thing if you were in her shoes."
She looked over the sheets as she walked back to her Hummer. When she got to the part where Natalia considered that Jake had shot George who had then made a reflexive jerk on the trigger that had shot her, she realized that it made sense when she thought back to that day. Opening the back of the Hummer, she took out a bottle of alcohol and then walked over to a sandy area. Placing the paper on down, Calleigh poured the liquid and then set the papers on fire. She watched them burn to ashes before she drove away and back to the station to see Alexx.
"Hey Alexx. What's up? Horatio told me to stop by."
Alexx looked at her with worried eyes. "How are you baby girl? Are you doing ok?"
Calleigh shrugged her shoulders. "I'm doing ok. Just will be glad when this is over with. Horatio said that you needed help."
"Yeah, I've got a specimen that I want you to look over. Just go into my office and I'll get it in to you in just a minute. It will probably take a half hour or so to check everything out. I'll be right back."
With that, Alexx waved Calleigh into her office and walked out into the hall to make a call. "Hey, I've got something here that needs your expertise for a bit. Can you come down right now?"
A couple of minutes past when Natalia walked in. "Hey Alexx. What do you need help with?"
Alexx tilted her head towards her office. "In there. Should take you about a half hour to examine it fully."
Natalia looked at her strangely and walked into the office. As she peeked in, she couldn't see anything so she walked in a couple of feet and was startled when the door closed rather loudly. Spinning around, it took a split second for Calleigh to reach her and pull her into a fierce embrace. "My God! We've got to thank them."
Calleigh started removing Natalia's wrap-around dress while pulling her towards the leather sofa as Natalia kicked off her shoes. In practically no time, Natalia was standing in front of her wearing nothing, but a pair of French cut panties. Kneeling on the floor Calleigh began to nuzzle the wetness that had already started to pool. She quickly pulled down the panties and helped Natalia onto the sofa. Natalia barely had enough time to recline when Calleigh was atop her, still clothed, sliding her tongue into her open mouth while at the same time thrusting three fingers inside of her and moving immediately. Calleigh swallowed the moan that erupted as Natalia arched her back, her hands grasping at Calleigh to find something to anchor herself down.
Calleigh tore her mouth away from hers, gasping for air. Burying her mouth near the pulsating point her neck, she rasped out, "We have to be quiet. Please baby, let's be careful." And then started nipping along the long bronze neck while continuing to thrust inside of her. Natalia's eyes rolled back as she bit her lower lip restraining herself from crying out as Calleigh moved down to suckle and nip at each breast. Soon Calleigh could tell that Natalia was on the brink and knew that her being quiet was about to become a lot harder. With her tongue in Natalia's mouth mirroring the actions of her hand, Calleigh sought to drive her over the edge, increasing the force of her thrusts. Natalia's breathing became erratic, and Calleigh sucked the cries as she climaxed. Calleigh slowed her fingers to a flutter and slowly withdrew all the while kissing Natalia's face and neck.
"Darlin'. Are you ok?"
It took a minute or two before Natalia was able to open her eyes without seeing stars, but what she did see, took her breath away as Calleigh was gazing at her lovingly.
Natalia reach up and pulled her down to touch her lips. "I'm perfect. But you have too many clothes on." Reaching out, she went to pull Calleigh's shirt from her pants, but she brushed her hand against her side, making her wince.
"What's the matter?"
Before Calleigh could answer, she lifted up her shirt to see that her side was black & blue. Lifting the shirt higher, she gasped when she saw scratches on her breast.
Natalia growled out. "I'm gonna kill him. He's a walking dead man."
She tried to get up off the sofa, but Calleigh held her down. "It's ok. I'm just sore. Nothing happened."
"Nothing happened! You call this nothing! Tell me."
Calleigh leaned back on the sofa, drawing her into her arms. She stoked her face and whispered. "Nothing happened, I promise. He was drunk and I was trying to get him to go to bed. He didn't want to sleep. He wanted something else and tried to force me. So I forcefully told him no and left. I haven't seen him today so I hope that I didn't ruin the investigation."
Natalia took her face between her hands. "Damn the investigation. He's not worth this."
"No, he's not, but I want to get him off of the force and off the streets so he can't hurt anyone else. I want to keep people safe. And speaking of that, I thank you for your information, but please stay far away from the investigation. I don't know what he would do if he found out we were together. I understand why you did it, but please stop."
Calleigh glanced at the clock and sighed. "We've got to go. We've already been in here 45 minutes."
Natalia sighed and got up while Calleigh stayed where she was, just watching her redress. Natalia finished tying the wrap dress when she caught her staring. "You are so beautiful. Please, please stay away from the investigation."
Getting up from the sofa, she wrapped her arms around Natalia for one final kiss. Her tongue easily slid in and the kiss was slow and sweet. Slowly she pulled away and sighed. "I'll go out first and go through the back hallway. You take the stairs and go up and over like you're coming from the second floor. I don't know when I'll be able to talk with you again. Just remember that I love you."
She walked over to the door and just before she went out, Natalia called out, "Calleigh Duquesne, I love you. Don't you ever forget it. You be careful and come back to me."
Calleigh whispered, "I will." And walked out before she could changed her mind.
Bowing her head in quick prayer before she walked out, Natalia quickly made her way to the stairs that headed to the second floor. She was on the walkway when she saw below that Jake was walking up behind Calleigh. He must have called out Calleigh's name because she stopped and turned around. Natalia stopped where she could hear the conversation and stay out of sight.
"Hey babe, where ya been? I've been looking for you."
"Alexx had something that she wanted me to check out."
He slid up next to her. "About last night. We'll just chalk it up to bad judgment and promise that it won't happen again. Right?"
Natalia couldn't hear what Calleigh said as she started walking away. Jake followed her, talking the whole time. They were about to turn a corner when Jake looked back and stared directly at Natalia. She tried to appear disinterested, but wasn't sure that she pulled it off. When he finally rounded the corner, she slowly walked towards her lab, trying to act natural even though her heart was pounding.
The rest of the day passed excruciatingly slow. Natalia was kept busy with a number of cases, and everyone that walked in wanted their case put to the front of the line. When she finally finished, she felt like she had been run over by a truck. She was cleaning off the final table when she looked up to find Jake standing in the doorway.
"Hi Jake. What can I do for you? I'm about ready to go, but if it's important I can stay."
He leaned against the door jam for a moment in silence before he said. "Hmm, I don't know if you would call it important, but I am wondering what you were doing accessing my case files."
She walked around a table, placing it between her and Jake while trying to think of something to say. "Which files? I access a lot of files. I'd have to see them before I could answer you."
He walked towards her, tilting his head to mimic Horatio. "You 'member Natalia. The Crypt Kings and the drug case when Calleigh got shot."
Natalia looked puzzled. "Calleigh didn't get shot on a drug case. It was concerning explosives and terrorists."
Jake got in her face. "Don't correct me girl. My case was the drug case that got all fouled up because I had to shoot George."
She walked back to the other side of the table. "Ok, ok. I remember now. I was asked to check all cases that pertained to terrorists. I've been so busy that those are the only two cases that I've been able to check so far. The Kings were selling the Corner Shot to foreign agents and George Kornspan was involved with shipping explosives to blow up the power plant."
As soon as those words left her mouth, she realized what was going on, but kept her face blank. Looking up at him, "I hope that I didn't interfere with anything that you've got going on right now. You know how it is, just doing what I'm told."
"No, you didn't mess anything up. I know how it is. Thanks for the info. If you find anything, let me know." And he walked out.
She waited until he was in the elevator before leaning against the table in relief. 'Oh my God. He's selling weapons. He had to have known George, and shot him to keep him quiet. I need to call Calleigh, but can't call her from here. I'll call her from home.'
Gathering up her purse and cell phone she was about to walk out when she took the rose along with her. Walking out and getting into her car, she didn't notice that she was being watched. Driving home, she decided not to wait and call Calleigh right then and dialed her number. Getting her voice mail, she growled. When she was about to leave a message, she was pulling into her drive so she parked while saying, "Calleigh, Jake knows that I accessed his files. He came in to see me and I made up a story that I was asked to check on cases that pertained to terrorists. I think that he believed me, but Calleigh, I think that he is selling weapons. It's the only thing....."
The car door opened and Jake leaned down. "I decided that you did mess something up and wanted to talk with you about it. Who were you talking with?"
"I got Calleigh's voice mail. She wanted to know about some trace and I forgot to call her from work. What did I mess up?"
"We'll talk about it someplace else. Come on. Give me that." Reaching in, he pulled her from the car and grabbed her phone, closed it and tossed it back inside the car. He shoved her into his car, handcuffing her as quickly as he could, and sped off. Unbeknownst to him, Natalia had a protective neighbor who had watched the entire scene and called the station to report it.