I had intended to put up a water background but I found this one oddly appropriate. LOL

But For A Chance Encounter

Speed groaned as he looked at the street in front of him. As far as he could tell the next three blocks were closed for some kind of street fair. Normally he wouldn't care; he'd just find a different route to wherever he was going because he didn't do street fairs, but the bookstore he needed to get to was smack in the middle of those three blocks. He debated not going but he really wanted to take the book he'd ordered on vacation with him. He sighed and found a parking spot for his bike.

*****

Almost an hour later he'd finally gotten to the store and paid for his book. Walking out of the store, he was paying more attention to the Table of Contents than he was to where he was going so never saw the person he ran into.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, picking up his book and offering the woman a hand up. She turned toward him and Speed wanted to kick himself, feeling like even more of a jerk. She was blind. "Oh God, I really am sorry. Are you alright?"

He reached down to gently grasp her wrist so she knew where his hand was. She moved her arm so she was grasping his hand.

"It's alright, sugar," she responded with a soft smile in a light Southern accent that reminded him of Alexx though she looked more like a cross between Calleigh and Horatio with her pixie face and wild array of strawberry blonde curls. He carefully helped her to her feet and handed her the lead to her Guide dog, a yellow lab waiting patiently beside her.

"The Fates put us in the places we need to be." She paused, holding his hand for a moment her head cocked to the side as if listening to something. She traced her fingers over his palm before placing her hand unerringly over his heart. She sucked in a breath. "Oh, sugar, you need to wear your vest today when you go to that jewelry store."

"Huh? What jewelry store? I'm not going to any jewelry store."

She smiled and gave him a pat. "Just remember to wear that vest."

She started to walk away but paused and spoke over her shoulder. "Tell Horatio how you feel, Speed. Life is too short to wait, sugar."

"What?" A flash of color at his feet caught Speed's attention. Looking down, he saw she had dropped a silk scarf. He picked it up turning to where she had been but stopped short. She was gone as if she had never been there. He looked around for a minute; stopping when he noticed people giving him odd looks. Sighing, he stuffed it and his new book in his bag. The sudden ringing of his cell phone startled him almost making drop everything again. He pulled it off his belt and groaned. "You do know I'm vacation, right, Eric? I thought you were too."

"Sorry, man, but H needs all of us on this one. We've got a 50 ft yacht that ran into a bridge piling collapsing part of the bridge and sending at least one car into the water. You are still in town, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I needed to pick something up before I left. Alright I'll be at the station in twenty minutes."

*****

"We got the jewelry appraised last year," Tawny Williams said handing over the papers she'd retrieved.

"A lot can happen in a year," Horatio commented looking over the papers before handing them to Speed. "Now...who else had access to those jewels?"

"Just me and my husband. We keep them in a vault."

Something was scratching at the back of Speed's thoughts making him uneasy. He felt like she was being honest with them but at the same time like something wasn’t adding up right. That wasn't what made him feel uneasy though. It was something else.

"Did you ever have them cleaned?" Horatio asked unaware of Speed's unease.

"After events, sure," she replied looking at each of them before refocusing on Horatio. "At McCauley Jewelers."

Speed stiffened. 'You need to wear your vest today when you go to that jewelry store.' How had she known?

"McCauley Jewelers, Speed. Thank you." They both nodded to Tawny Williams before heading back out to the Hummer.

Once back on the road Speed glanced quickly at Horatio. "Can we stop at the Lab first? I need to grab something."

Horatio frowned. "It can't wait?"

"No, I need to stop at the Lab first," he insisted, keeping his head turned towards the window.

"Alright. We can stop at the Lab first."

At the Lab Speed jumped out of the Hummer. "I won't be long. I just need to go to my locker."

Horatio nodded, watching him. Speed walked quickly into the building then jogged to the locker room. Luckily it was empty so he stripped off his shirt and strapped on his Kevlar vest. He pulled his shirt back on making sure it hid the vest then headed back out to the Hummer."

"Do you get what you need?"

"Yeah, I got it," Speed replied looking Horatio in the eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment until Horatio finally nodded seemingly satisfied with what he saw.

"Let's go find out what Mr. McCauley has to say."

Pulling up in front of the store, Speed shook his head at the red Rolls Royce convertible parked in front of them. "I bet that Rolls belongs to the owner. Cars are such a bad investment."

“Most people feel that cars are a necessity.”

"I'll take my bike any day over a car," Speed said with a smirk.

Horatio shook his head as they moved up the walk. "Some day you might need something with doors."

"I've got plenty of time for that." Speed's stride faltered for a second as another feeling of unease came over him. He kept moving forward hoping Horatio hadn't noticed.

Inside they were greeted by a guy with a European accent. Definitely not Irish or Scottish like the name McCauley would imply. It sounded more Eastern European. German maybe. Speed listened with only half an ear as he moved further into the store. Something wasn't right here. There were two saleswomen standing behind one of the counters giving him strained smiles. One of them glanced towards the back of the store without moving her head then looked back at Speed. He looked and could see someone crawling underneath one of the work benches in the back room. What the hell was going on here? He pulled his gun, flicking off the safety.

"Speed?"

He heard Horatio call his name but ignored it to focus on the guy moving under the table. A flash of something that looked like a gun had him bringing his own gun up. Almost too late he saw the door to the back open and a second man with a gun emerged.

The man fired.

Speed heard the two women scream. Registered them dropping to the ground behind the counter.

He brought his gun to bear and pulled the trigger.

Click.

His eyes widened. Not again. He pulled the trigger again.

Click. Click.

His eyes dropped to his gun. This couldn't be happening again.

He heard two gun shots. Something slammed into his chest like a freight train, knocking him to the ground. Speed heard more gun shots being fired but was too busy trying to breathe to concentrate on what was going on around him. Suddenly Horatio was looming above him.

"Speed? I need you to hold on, okay?" Horatio grabbed his cell phone. "This is CSI Caine. We have a priority here! I've got a man down, shots fired! Hold on, Speed."

"...breathe," Speed managed to gasp out his hands scrabbling at his chest, trying to undo the buttons of his shirt or even just rip the damn thing open.

Horatio seemed to understand what he wanted and started undoing the buttons. He paused suddenly then ripped open Speed's shirt. He quickly undid the straps holding the vest on.

Finally able to fully expand his lungs, Speed sucked in a lungful of air. He promptly started coughing but at least he could breathe again.

"Just take it easy, Speed. The paramedics are on their way."

Speed nodded, closing his eyes as he drew in one lungful of sweet air after another. He knew Horatio was watching him; could feel the weight of his gaze but Speed didn't want to see the disappointment he was sure was in the older man's eyes. Instead he just concentrated on breathing; wincing periodically at the pain in his chest from what he was sure was a very large bruise.

"The paramedics are here," Horatio finally said. Speed opened his eyes but Horatio was looking towards the front door of the store. Soon the paramedic was kneeling next to him and Horatio was giving her the rundown. "He took one bullet but was wearing his vest. He had the wind knocked out of him when he fell."

"Did he hit his head? Possible concussion?" She asked already shining a penlight in his eyes. Speed grimaced turning his head away.

"I'm right here you know. I can answer questions and, no, I don't think I hit my head. I'm fine, just bruised." He tried to sit up but the paramedic and Horatio held him down.

"Speed, you will do what the young woman says. Understand?"

Speed winced at the hard tone but nodded. "Yeah, H. I understand."

"Good. I am going to talk to Calleigh and then I have a suspect to interrogate. You will go to the hospital if that's what they require."

"Got it," he sighed.

"Good. Take care of him, ma'am. He's important to a lot of people and he gave us a very bad scare today."

"I will, sir," she replied nodding to Horatio before continuing her examination. She waited until Horatio had walked off before she smirked at Speed. "Something tells me you're in for a spanking once Dad gets you home."

He stared up at her for a moment before he laughed. It immediately turned into a cough that she helped him ride through.

"I'm more worried about Mom. She's going to kill me when I get back to the Lab. Ouch," he complained when she pressed on a tender spot.

"Was that an 'ouch, I'm bruised' or an 'ouch, that really really hurt'?"

"Ouch, I'm bruised. Nothing feels broken. Just a little sore."

She prodded around his bruise a bit more before shaking her head. "Alright. I'm going to give you a conditional clean bill. If you have any problems, any at all, you head straight for the hospital. Got me?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good. Let's go give your lieutenant the good news." She just smirked at his groan.

*****

Horatio looked up when the doors to the jewelry store opened. He frowned as Speed walked out followed by the paramedic.

"He goes nowhere," Horatio said to the Patrol officer watching Rudy. He didn't even wait for a nod before joining Speed and the paramedic. "Ma'am. How is he?"

"A bit bruised." she smirked at Speed's rolled eyes. "It doesn't look like he's broken or cracked any ribs. No sign of concussion. I'd say light duty for the next few days though any signs of problems breathing, shortness of breath, blue-tinge to his lips or fingernails take him straight to the hospital. No arguments."

The last was directed at Speed who sighed but nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"You take care of him, Lieutenant."

"I will and thank you."

"Just doing my job." She nodded to both of them heading back to her ambulance.

"Speed..."

"H..."

They both paused. Speed looked down then at Horatio. "I know we need to talk. About a few things but not here. My place after shift, case willing? I'll cook."

Horatio started to say something, paused, then, "You cook?"

"Yeah," Speed snorted, "I cook. So what now? Did Rudy say where the boy is?"

"No. He says he doesn't know anything about the kidnapping. For the moment I'm inclined to believe him so it's back to the Lab and the palm print on the car trunk."

*****

Back at the Lab Horatio headed for Fingerprints while Speed went to the morgue. Standing in front of the doors, he shuddered at the thought of how close he came to being the one on Alexx's table. He debated not going in but knew she'd track him down once she heard he was in the building. The door suddenly swung open revealing Alexx with her hand on her hip.

"Inside now, Timothy."

"Yes, Mom." He slunk into the morgue then into her office. Before he could sit down she pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her shoulder. She pulled back and smacked his arm then hugged him again.

"Don't you scare me like that again, baby, understand?"

"I know. I am sorry."

Alexx sighed pulling away. "Sit down, sugar, and tell me what happened. When I heard Horatio... When I heard... What happened? Not that I'm not grateful you're not on my table," she paused repeating that to herself.

"I know what you mean," Speed said with a slight smile that faded quickly. "My gun misfired."

"Tim."

"I know. H and I are going to talk after work. It wasn't attempted suicide by criminal."

"Of course not. You wouldn't have been wearing your vest if it was... Why were you wearing your vest?"

"Would you believe someone told me to?" He nodded at her look of disbelief and told her about the woman he'd run into.

When he was done Alexx shook her head. "That is the oddest story I've ever heard, sugar, but I'm glad. You might not be sitting here otherwise. If you ever find out who she is let me know. I want to say thank you. She saved my baby's life."

"Alexx..."

"Off with you now. I have autopsies to do."

Speed shook his head but didn't protest. "I'll talk to you later."

He was almost to the morgue doors when she called out. "Speed?"

"Yeah?"

"When you talk to Horatio tonight you need to tell him how you feel, sugar."

"No. I..."

"Yes, you will. You of all people should know how short and precious the time we have is. Tell him. You might be surprised by his response."

"Alexx..."

"Tell him."

"Fine! I will. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," she responded dryly.

Speed glared at her but left. There wasn't much point in arguing. She was one of those moms who were always right. As he entered the Lab properly he ran into Horatio and Eric on their way out.

"Did we get something?"

"Hit on the trunk palm print," Eric said. "We're headed out with SWAT now to pick up the suspect."

"Where..."

"I'll meet you outside, Eric," Horatio interrupted.

"Yeah, sure, H," Eric agreed looking between them. He gave Speed a friendly slap on the arm as he left. "Good to see you up and around, man."

"You are on light duty, Speed," Horatio said once they were alone. "And Calleigh still has your gun."

"Okay. What do you want me to do then?"

"Go over that mud you found. See if you can trace it somewhere in particular. Our current suspect is one Peter Keller. I want to know everything there is to know about him. Also check with QD. See if we can get anything off the envelope and money from the martial arts instructor. I doubt Keller is working alone. Can you handle that?"

"I'm just bruised, H, not dead."

"No, but you almost were."

Speed winced. "I've got it. I'll have info waiting for you when you get back."

"Good. I'll see you in a bit."

Nodding, Speed started to walk away but stopped and turned back. "You can eat pecans, right?"

"Uhm, yes. Why?"

"Just checking." With a smirk he continued on his way. Back in the Trace lab he setup a comparison test between the mud found on the boat and a sample taken from where they'd found the Grand Prix. They'd already connected the boat and the car but one more link never hurt. While that was running he pulled over a notepad quickly writing out a grocery list of what he'd need for dinner. He still wasn't sure he was going to tell Horatio how he felt about him but a semi-romantic dinner couldn't hurt. Maybe H would even make the first move.

Like he could get that lucky.

Shaking his head at his thoughts, Speed glanced over at the Mass Spec. Still running. He typed in the search query on Peter Keller then grabbed the Evidence envelope that had the payoff envelope in it. Might as well run it to QD while he waited.

Ten minutes later he finally made it to the QD. It seemed like everyone wanted to ask him how he was doing. You’d think no one ever got shot on their job.

"Hey, Cynthia," he said sticking his head around the doorway of the lab.

"Speed!" She smiled at him. "Are you okay? We heard..."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bruised." He wished everyone would stop making such a fuss but didn't say that out loud. Instead he handed her the evidence envelope. "H wants you to run this. It's the payoff to the martial arts instructor in the kidnapping case."

"Sure. Am I looking for anything in particular?"

"Anything that might tell us who the kidnapper is, accomplices, or where they might've stashed the boy."

"So give it the works. I'm on it. I'll page you as soon as I've got something."

"Great. Thanks."

Walking back to Trace, he paused outside the locker room door. He really was curious to know who that woman had been. Decision made he retrieved the bag with the scarf and continued back to his lab. Putting the bag on the table, he grabbed the report from the Mass Spec.

The mud on the boat and the mud by the car were an exact match in mineral and chemical composition. That gave them a solid link between the two now. A glance at the computer showed it had finished the search on Keller. H and Eric had only been gone fifteen minutes so he left it to work on the scarf.

Laying it out on the table, Speed looked it over. It was a dark kelly green with a black Celtic knotwork pattern printed on it. The material had been looped like a head band with the ends knotted loosely together. Luck was really on his side because he spotted a couple of strands of hair in the knot. They were long, curly and strawberry blonde and, even better, had follicle tags on them. He bagged them so he could drop them off with Valera later. Carefully he folded up the scarf and re-bagged it. If Valera was able to find a match he wanted to send it back to her.

That done he turned his attention to the search on Keller. "Alright, jackass, what other crimes have you committed besides kidnapping and murder? Forgery. Fraud. Embezzlement. Theft. My, my we are a bad man but those don't lead to kidnapping or murder. Let's see the victims. Huh. Older single rich men. Sorry, Petey, but you are not the gay boytoy type. Let's see known associates."

Speed blinked at the screen then smirked. "Well this is interesting. Better tell Yelina if she's not with H."

He printed out duplicate copies of the current screen and Keller's rap sheet, shoved a set in a folder and grabbed the hairs from the scarf on his way out the door. He reached DNA first knocking on the open door. "Hey, Valera, need you to run something for me."

"Hey! How are you? You okay? I heard..."

Speed held up a hand cutting her off. "I'm fine. Just bruised. Run these hairs please."

"Yeah, sure I can do that."

Mentally wincing at the hurt tone, he gave her a tight smile. "Thanks, Max. Page me with the results."

"Okay."

"Yelina!" He called out spotting the Brazilian detective. "I'll talk to you later, Valera. Yelina, wait up."

"Speed," she turned to smile at him. "How... I'd ask how you are doing but something tells me you are tired of hearing that question."

"Just a little. I'm fine but nobody seems to get that."

"They are your friends, Tim. They're concerned about you. When Horatio's call came in no one knew you were wearing your vest so we all expected the worst. Give them some time. A week and things will be back to normal."

"I hope so."

"It will. Now what can I do for you?"

"H had me run a background on Peter Keller. Look at his previous targets and then look at his known associates."

"This is interesting," she said skimming the pages. "It certainly puts a whole new spin on things."

"I thought so too."

"Good work, Tim. I'll have her brought in for questioning; see what she has to say. I'll page you when she gets here."

"Thanks. I'll be in the lab."

Yelina smiled and walked back towards the Detectives' section of the building. Realizing he hadn't eaten anything that day, Speed headed to the break room rather than his lab. A quick glance at the sandwich dispenser had him turning towards the snack machine. Bag of M&M's in hand he'd just sat down at the table with a forensics journal someone had left behind when Calleigh walked in.

"Tim! I've been looking for you." She sat down at the table across from him. He didn't look up from the journal. He didn't want to see the pity, disappointment, or worse condemnation in her eyes.

"I'm fine. No injuries, just bruised."

"That's not why I'm here though it's good to know."

"Why are you here then?" He tossed aside the journal and instead concentrated on sorting his M&M's by color. Her hand on his stopped him, finally forcing him to look at her. All he could see was concern in her eyes. "What?"

"I finished examining your gun. The firing pin snapped causing it to misfire."

"So it wasn't my fault?"

"That's what my report will say but, Tim... I thought you were going to talk to Horatio after Dispo Day?"

"I did," Speed said defensively. "He even gave me a gun cleaning kit."

"And have you used it?"

"Yes. Sort of," he mumbled.

Calleigh sat back and looked at him for a long moment. Speed stared at the M&M's in front of him before looking back at her. "I'm talking with H again tonight."

"Good," she said gently. "Have him show you how to use that kit properly. You may have bent the pin by accident if you weren't cleaning it right. I'll reissue you a new gun on your next shift." She stood up but paused. "Even though my report will say it was a faulty firing pin you still have a history of poor gun maintenance. Standard procedure says that you will be subject to random gun checks by your supervisor for no less than six months possibly up to a year."

Speed clenched his jaw but nodded. None of this was her fault. She could get in trouble as it was for not reporting the full condition of his gun. "Thanks, Calleigh."

"Thank me by learning how to use that kit and use it often. If Horatio doesn't show you let me know and I will. You're my friend, Tim. I don't want to lose you to something like this that can be avoided." She squeezed his shoulder then left the room. Once she was gone he tried to read the forensic journal but couldn't concentrate on the article. Thoughts of what Calleigh had and hadn't said; what he was going to say to Horatio tonight ran through his head until he finally tossed down the journal in frustration. Scooping up the rest of his M&M's, he started back towards his lab. He was just walking in the door when his phone went off. It was a page from Kerry at reception letting him know Horatio and Eric were back with the suspect.

He grabbed the duplicate copy of Keller and Tawny Williams' files and headed towards interrogation. He caught up with Horatio outside of one of the rooms.

"H! I ran that background check you wanted. Guess who came up under known associates?"

"Tawny Williams."

"Yeah, only she was going by Sissy Huber then. Let me guess, he's claiming she masterminded it?" Speed handed over the file.

"Something like that. Sissy Huber - Tampa, Tallahassee. Fraud, theft, and embezzlement."

"All their vics were rich men in their fifties and sixties."

"Broke their hearts then broke their bank accounts, didn't she? Let's bring her in."

"Yelina's already on it."

"That was fast."

"This kid is counting on us to find him. I didn't see a reason not to go to Yelina with what I'd found."

"No, you did the right thing. Joey Williams is our priority right now. Has QD gotten back to us on the envelope?"

"Not yet," Speed said double-checking his phone for any missed messages. "Cynthia said she'd page me as soon as she found something."

"Good."

"So I'm thinking this went down one of two ways."

"Oh?"

"One, she was in on the kidnapping but had no idea about the jewels being switched so was actually shocked when she heard Keller killed Williams and the whole thing has spiraled out of control. Or she fell for their mark which pissed off Keller and this whole thing is Keller's revenge against Tawny...Sissy, whatever the hell her name is."

"Either one of those scenarios is a very real possibility but it still leaves us with a very important question."

"Where is Joey Williams."

"Exactly. Hopefully Mrs. Williams can shed some light on it."

Speed followed Horatio's line of sight to see Yelina approaching with Tawny Williams.

"Lieutenant, I mean, really. Shouldn’t I be home in case someone calls?" She demanded as they entered the interrogation room together.

"Someone like Pete Keller?" Horatio asked, looking at her sideways. Tawny sank into her seat. Speed leaned back against the two-way mirror letting H and Yelina take the lead.

"Your boyfriend…is in custody for kidnapping," Yelina told her sounding just a bit smug as she looked out towards the Detectives' area.

Tawny looked in time to see Keller walk past in handcuffs being escorted by two officers. She stared back at them in disbelief. "Pete did this? I haven't seen Pete in years."

Horatio's gaze and tone hardened. "He murders your husband, he kidnaps your stepson and I’m to believe that you haven’t seen him in years…Sissy? This is a list of known associates and it appears," he tossed down the folder Speed had given him, "that you and Pete have been separating people from their money for quite awhile."

"Usually older, rich men," Yelina added.

"I ripped off rich guys. Okay? I admit it. We picked them out of the Society page in the Herald."

"Is that how you found your husband?" Yelina asked.

"Yeah, he…Reed had just been widowed. He was like a prime target. Only this time, it was different. I fell in love with him. Okay? I fell in love with his son. You said I’d been hiding something. That’s it. My past. I’ve been trying to make some changes in my life. People do change. Please find him."

"How long have you been married to Reed Williams?" Speed asked suddenly.

"What?" She asked bewildered by the sudden change in questions. "Two years. August 10th was our two year anniversary," She paused, a hand to her mouth, fighting back tears. "Reed and Joey asked me to formally adopt Joey as an anniversary present. The...the paperwork is still in the process. Please find my son," she begged.

"That's what we're going to do, ma'am," Horatio assured her.

Out in the hallway Speed, Horatio and Yelina traded looks.

"She didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping," Speed said.

"No, she didn't," Horatio agreed. "I think it's time to speak with Peter Keller again. He knows where Joey is."

"He's in room 4," Yelina gestured down the hallway.

"Let's go talk to him then."

Speed started to follow but his cell phone went off. Pulling it off his belt, he saw that it was Valera.

"Cynthia?" Horatio asked.

"No. Valera. I had her running something for me. I'll catch up with you."

He nodded to both of them before heading back to the lab.

"You rang," he said as he walked into DNA.

"Hey. You said this was related to the kidnapping case, right?"

"Indirectly, yeah. What did you find?"

"You're going to have a problem if she's a suspect or even a potential witness," she said handing him a file from her desk.

"What kind of problem?"

"Take a look."

Speed flipped open the folder and paused staring back up at her.

"I know. Read the next page."

He moved the next page to the front and started reading it. He was about halfway down when he stopped again. "You're sure about this?"

"Uh-huh. I ran samples from all of the hairs you gave me. All of them were from the same donor and I ran the DNA makeup through CODIS three times. I'm sure that information is correct. Are you going to tell me how this relates to the case now?"

"I'm not sure how it relates now," Speed answered distractedly walking out of her lab. He called over his shoulder, "thanks, Max."

"You're welcome," she muttered.

******

Part 2