Fic: Bought and Paid For, Chapter 3 (CSI Miami, Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko)
Title: Bought and Paid For, Chapter 3
Fandom: CSI Miami
Pair: Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always welcome.
CSI Miami Main List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Summary: Ryan Wolfe is a CSI working on a murder case. Eric Delko is a man of different vocation. A dead man brings them together.
PS: Despite the title, this is NOT a slave fic or anything similar. The meaning of the title becomes clear during the story, but it’s not what it sounds like.
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“Sixty-three stabs of knife in the stiff, sixty-three stabs of knife, pull it out and stab again, sixty-four stabs of knife in the stiff-” Ryan hummed and pulled out his keys. The light in the stairs hadn’t shed much light for weeks, but the janitor had somehow managed to avoid it just the way he had avoided all questions about replacing the broken down parts of the railing. Ryan opened the door and snapped on the lights.
He was welcomed by a crisp scent of pine scented detergent. The small apartment was as immaculately cleaned and organised as it had been when he had left in the morning. Ryan took a deep whiff of the scent and paid down his backbag. The had had turner out to be long, and the second murder had kept them occupied till after nine. When he had finally signed out, the sun had long ago gone down and the heat of the day had been replaced by a chilly wind, coming from the sea and apparently reaching all corners of the area.
The doorbell rang before he could even kick off his shoes. He toed them carefully into the rack and went to open the door. When he saw the man waiting in the hallwat, he had to take a moment to stare.
“Are you gonna let me?” Delko asked. Ryan looked down at the duffel bag on the floor and then the man himself again.
“What are you doing here?”
“You really wanna talk here in the doorway?”
Ryan stepped to the side and let him in. Delko flipped the bag up to his shoulder and walked in. He looked around, not bothering to hide his curiosity. Finally he focused his eyes on his host.
“Nice place. Very… clean.”
“We can’t all make the money you make. Of course in your line of work the pension plan is pretty much up in the air…”
“I’m too young to think about that.” Delko shrugged. “You didn’t call me.”
“I did.” Ryan had to pause and consider. “Didn’t I?”
“No.”
“Sorry, I was really busy. We found Culhane.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew it. He was never late.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s not like we were even friends. But he was a good guy.”
“So you’ve said.” Ryan reminded. “I met his wife. Did she know about her husband?”
“They had an agreement. They stayed together and kept up appearances. He made sure she had enough money to spend on herself and stay half the year following the sun, and she let him do what he wanted as long as he was discreet about it.”
“So she lied to us. I kinda guessed.”
“They both go what they wanted from it.”
“Whatever… Wait a minute. How did you know my address?”
“I went to the lab, and this very helpful receptionist…” Delko stretched his words and added an emphasis to the last syllables to imitate Charlene’s thick accent. “… gave me your address when I explained how I lost the address on the way here and I was all alone in Miami…”
“Who did you say you were?”
“Your old school buddy. Woman can be really friendly when they think a man is helpless and vulnerable.”
“Maybe you should expand your business to women. You don’t seem to have problems charming them.”
“No thanks.” Delko laughed. “I like woman, but not in the sack.”
“You could have just called. You got my number.”
“Yeah, that…” The man suddenly looked awkward and slumped his bag to the floor. “I need a place to crash, I can’t go to my place.”
“Why not?”
“Garden was there.”
“What? He came to your-”
“No, after I called you I went out to get some groceries, and when I came back someone had been in my apartment.”
“Was there signs of a break-in-”
“No, but I could tell. He had been rummaging through my stuff. Clothes and underwear and everything.”
“Calm down.” Ryan stated and grabbed his phone. “I’ll call it in, the nightshift can handle it-”
“Don’t.” Delko grabbed the phone from his hand. “You can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“You people already know about my clients. If people start snooping around my place, they’ll start asking questions and then I’m doomed.”
“You can’t just leave it like that-”
“I can. Look, I don’t think he took anything, I just need a place to crash for few nights.”
“You can’t stay here. You’re a part of two murder investigations, and I’m one of the investigators.”
“What harm can it do? I’ll sleep on the couch and you won’t even notice I’m here.”
“Considering how much money you get from your clients, I’m sure you can afford to get yourself a room in hotel.”
“You wanna make me stay alone in a hotel room?” Delko put on his best pout and accessorised it with puppy eyes. “What if that guy comes after me next?”
“Delko-”
“Eric.”
“Fine. Eric. That Poor Little Boy act may work with women, but it doesn’t work with me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on, man. Just few nights. I’ll be good.”
“Is that your advertising slogan when you scope for new customers?”
“I don’t scope for new customers.” Eric grinned smugly. “They come to me and I pick who I want. I don’t go after anyone, unless I really want something.”
“Why exactly do you want to stay here?”
“What’s a safer place then a cops home?”
“I’m not a cop, I’m a-”
“Crime scene investigator. Charlene explained the difference.”
“You said he rummaged through your place…” Ryan’s voice turned thoughtful. “Did you keep a record, a black book or something like that? Like a client list?”
“You mean did the guy find all my client and is he gonna kill all of them?” Eric finished for him. “It’s all in my laptop and my cellphone. They were both in my car, so he didn’t find anything like that.”
“We need to go through them and-”
“Why would I give it to you?”
“Beasue they could be in danger-”
“And so am I. Let me stay and I`ll make you a copy of them list in the morning.”
“You can`t be serious!”
“I am.”
Ryan let out a frustrated sigh.
“You’re not gonna give up, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Fine.” Ryan sighed rubbing his temples. “Fine, but it’s just for couple of days.”
“Great!” Eric beamed and bragged his bag from the floor. “I’ll get settled and I may need to borrow a pair of boxers, I packed in the hurry and my underwear drawer is a total disaster are on a normal day, not to mention when-”
“Not so fast.” Ryan grabbed Eric’s arm and pulled him back. “House rules. You don’t sleep on the couch without your clothes on, you don’t lay a glass or anything else on the table without a coaster-”
“What if I wanna sit on the table?”
“And you will not bring your clients here.”
“Okay.” Eric flashed him a wide smile. “So, host… what do we have for dinner?”
“If you don’t keep you mouth shut… a third homicide.”
Chapter 4