Fic: Mailed, Prologue (CSI Miami, Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko)
Title: Mailed, Prologue
Pairing: Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
CSI Miami Main List
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Interlude Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
“Let’s just… get on with it.” Calleigh took a deep breath and placed the stack of cardboard boxes on the floor. “It’s not going to get any easier.”
“Yeah.” Eric closed the door behind them. He eyed the apartment as calmly as he could. “It’s so soon.”
“Two weeks and three days.”
“Too soon.”
“The landlord wants the place empty and we said we would do it.”
“I know!” Eric exclaimed. “Speed’s been buried for a week and we’re already going through his stuff.”
“We promised to do this.” Calleigh reminded. “It’s hard for you and it’s hard for me, but try to imagine how hard it would be for his parents to come here and handle this.”
“Yeah… Let’s just get this done.”
Eric grabbed a box and went to the bedroom. He opened the closed and started shoving things randomly into the box. Calleigh gave him a long look, but didn’t say anything. Eric shoved the box as full as he could and grabbed a new box.
“Eric.”
“What?”
“How bout I handle this and you’ll go through the mail. Check if there’s any bills or things like that.”
“I got this.”
“Eric, you’re trying to rush through it and it’s not very helpful. They we’re Speed’s things, but now they’re just things. They don’t have meaning when the guy himself isn’t here.”
“So we’ll just ship them all away and out of sigh.”
“No.” Calleigh used the same tone she used with less then smart suspects and small children. “His parent will go trough them and decide what they want to keep. No one’s brushing this aside, but some things have to be taken care of, no matter how little time has passed.”
“Okay.” Eric rubbed his chin with his palm. “I… Where’s the mail?”
“On the kitchen table, the landlord picked it up for us from the box. And I found Speed’s passwords for his email-accounts from his notebook. You should check them out too.”
“Yeah.”
Eric handed the moving box over to Calleigh and walked into the kitchen. Speed`s laptop was laying on its normal place, and next to it was a stack of mail and a well-worn notebook. Eric started the computer and examined the mail. Two bills, an add from a store selling second-hand motorcycle parts and a postcard from someone Eric had never even heard of, preaching the beauty of Alaska. He left the bills separately and opened the web browser. The page history didn’t reveal much. News sites, porn, few on-line stores. The last addres caught his attention. He found the right password and username from the notebook and signed in.
“Cal?”
“What?”
“Come take a look at this.”
Calleigh came into the kitchen and leaned to read the text on the screen.
“Lonely in Miami?”
“Did you know about this?”
“No…”
“Check this out. This is his profile.”
“He was looking for company on-line?” Calleigh quickly scanned the form. “I had no idea.”
“Did you know about that?” Eric pointed at one of the ticked boxes. “Seeks man or woman?”
“Well…” She leaned closer to the screen. “I did know about that, but not that he was looking for company that way.”
“You knew.” Eric repeated. “You knew and you never told me.”
“It wasn’t my place to tell you, and if he didn’t want you to know, that was his decision.”
“Yeah, but we’re buddies, he knows I’m open minded! My mind is open like saloon doors!”
“Eric… You’re talking about him in a present tense.”
“I am?”
“Yeah. I know it’s hard for you, but it doesn’t make it any easier if you keep doing that. At least not for me.” She turned her back to Eric for a minute to collect herself. “I need to keep a clear line between then and now, or I can’t handle this.”
“Sorry.” Eric focused on the laptop screen again and brought up Speed’s e-mail account. “Looks like he found somebody. There’s… seventeen unopened messages. One every day after he...” He didn`t finish his sentence. Instead he opened the message dated the day after Speed’s death. “I’m gonna think positively and assume you got called to work or something. Are you free tonight?”
“They were going to meet?”
“Looks like it. This one was send the day after: Did I say something wrong? Where did you go?”
“Show me that one.” Calleigh pointed at the message send the day before Speed’s death. The message showed up on the screen and she read the short text. “Great. Milo’s, seven thirty tomorrow. I’ll be wearing jeans and an orange shirt. Can’t wait.”
“That’s the same e-mail address I saw in one of the responses.” Eric clicked back the dating site. “There, Leader-of-the-Wolf-Pack.”
“Can you open his profile?”
“Yeah.” Eric clicked the name and the profile appeared. “Gender: Male, age group: twenty to thirty, hair: dark, eyes: hazel.” He paused and buried his face in his hands. “Speed had a date the same day he was…”
“And the guy thought he was stood up.” Calleigh added. “How long have they been writing?”
“He responded to his add about three months ago.”
“And the poor guy has no idea why he doesn’t get an answer.”
“Should I tell him?”
“Yes.” She stated and wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye. “Some investigator I am… I saw Speed was happier than he had been for a while, but never even asked him about it. I just thought he would tell me when he was ready.”
“Cal-”
“Mail him and explain what happened, I have to get back to work.” She walked out wiping her eyes.
Eric hesitated for a while, but decided to give her some time alone. Instead he went back to Speed’s e-mails and took a good look at his inbox. Obviously the correspondence between the men had been very active, often several messages a day. He went back till he found the first message from Leader-of-the-Wolf-Pack and clicked it open.
Chapter 1