No Other One, Chapter 26
Title: No Other One, Chapter 26
Author: Duckie Nicks
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Yelina Salas, Horatio Caine, the whole Caine family
Author's Note: WARNING: SPOILER FOR SEASON 6.
Summary: Almost two decades ago, Horatio made a decision that would change his family forever. Will they ever forgive him? Will he ever tell Yelina how he feels? This is an alternative to the beginning of season 6. A Horatio and Kyle story; H/Y romance in the future. Fulfills
alphabetasoup prompt, P is for Pangu.
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, and Chapter 25.
Disclaimer: I own the show, just as I'm America's Next Top Model. ;) Don't sue.
“Resolve, and thou art free.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The hum of the appliances and a nearby clock ticking did little to ease the silence settling in between them. For her part, Yelina was determined not to say anything; Stetler was the kind of man who didn’t like to talk before he was ready. And though she’d had no problem ignoring that fact in the past, now was not one of those days where she felt like initiating the conversation. Because who knew what the dark-haired man would say.
Every so often, her hazel eyes glanced over at him to see if she could tell which version of Rick she would encounter. She hoped that he would understand, that he would listen to what the brunette had said and believe her. It didn’t seem like a foolish request; he could be a wonderful man when he wanted to be. And she could only pray that this was the side of him he would show her.
But realistically… Yelina thought that it was unlikely. Maybe, she thought, she was just expecting the worst. Perhaps he would be understanding, but what it all amounted to was that nothing he could have done would have kept her here for that period of time. That if she was destined to be in Rio, then he was doomed to lose her.
How he would react to that made her uneasy. On the one hand, did the brunette really want her ex-boyfriend to be… content with losing her? A large part of her knew that they had broken up for good reason, but that didn’t mean Yelina believed that there had been nothing in their relationship worth mourning. And she knew that if he felt differently, it would sting worse than any slap he’d given her ever could.
Nonetheless, if Stetler became angry, possibly violent - well, the brunette didn’t want that either.
“Okay,” he finally said, nodding his head up and down.
Her eyes trained on him almost immediately, searching. But the I.A.B. agent gave away nothing, and so she asked, “’Okay?’”
“Yup.” It was a simple answer but one that told her nothing. She thought it might have sounded non-committal, but then again, Stetler might easily be conserving his energy for a huge fight.
And Yelina tried to figure out which it might be, her body feeling tense in the chair.
But whatever she was expecting didn’t happen.
The silence between them was broken by the sound of the taxi outside honking its horn. Stetler stood up, and she waited, her entire body on edge. All he did though was stand up.
As he walked passed her, the dark-haired man leaned down, pressing his warm lips to her cool forehead. It was more reassuring than anything else he’d done over the years, and it was enough to have her reaching out, grabbing his arm with her hands.
“Are you mad?” she asked, her voice unsure.
He shrugged. “Not really, no.” She could feel her brow furrowing, her mouth turning down into a frown. It made no sense that he wouldn’t care - made even less sense that she wanted him to. Eventually, Rick added, “I’ve… been trying to learn not to get upset over things I can’t change.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Anger management,” he explained. “It doesn’t always work… obviously.”
A chuckle got caught in her throat. The admittance was almost funny, but the stinging reminder that was her thigh took nearly all of the humor out of it. “Right,” she said.
The taxi honked its horn again, and Rick sighed. “Look,” he began simply. “I don’t like what you did - and part of me is always gonna wonder what would have happened between us if you hadn’t moved to Brazil.”
Yelina sighed sadly, nodding her head in agreement. It was a question that plagued her mind as well.
“But I guess it’s pointless, huh? To think about what might have been,” he conceded.
“I guess,” she said quietly. And there was a brief pause before the brunette figuratively walked into the territory that she had been trying to avoid. “But maybe… we could see what… happens this time.” Her voice was soft but stilted, sounding just as she felt - unsure that she should be saying it. Unsure if she meant it.
Because Yelina was more than aware of his problems, and maybe it was foolish to want to go down that road again. Especially since her son would hate it.
But then again, Ray Junior had pushed Horatio towards her for so long, had wanted that relationship to come together. And now the brunette doubted that it could have ever worked, given her brother-in-law’s insecurities and inadequacies.
Rick might be abusive at times, she decided, but at least he was straightforward with his problems for the most part. There might be the constant wondering that something would go wrong, that she would push him too far. But at least he didn’t lull her into a false sense of security and then easily shatter the peace.
In the end, Yelina thought that she expected problems in any relationship. And at least there was no lie from Rick about what he was capable of. With Horatio… well, she just didn’t know anymore, did she? She just had no idea what the redhead could or would do to her.
Looking up at the dark-haired man standing next to her, she waited to see what he would say.
He sighed in what appeared to be exasperation. “I think that would be a bad idea,” he said simply. And then after a moment’s hesitation, Rick told her, “But… I’ve missed you, Ellie.”
“I know.”
Leaning down once more, he kissed her on the lips. It was chaste, polite… dismissive.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll call you later.” Another kiss to her forehead, a sharp, “Be good,” and Rick left.
And between the mix of emotions - defiance, anger, resentment, relief - Yelina couldn’t help but feel just a little bit empty.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Horatio closed the door to his office right after Rebecca walked through it. Watching her, he noticed how she glanced around the room, her lips curling up in disdain.
“Did you sleep in here?” The prosecutor spun around, her arms folded across her chest.
“We worked on the case throughout the night,” the redhead explained. “Is that a problem?” He knew it was probably wrong to sound so… combative, but the truth was Horatio wanted this to be over with quickly. Because every second she spent chatting about how messy his office was or something else was another moment where his son had to be in the holding cell.
“It is, actually.” Rebecca started to lean back against his desk, but noticing the mounds of paperwork on the tabletop, she thought better of it. “I need you and Calleigh Duquesne to be reliable witnesses. And right now, all I see is evidence that you two are overworked and tired.”
He frowned and glanced at her, his blue eyes looking at her sadly. “Rebecca, our test results can be trusted.”
“That’s what you might believe, and it may even be true, Horatio. But a defense attorney would pick you apart over this.”
You don’t need to worry about me,” he said.
“I’m not,” she told him, her voice filled with honesty. “But I am concerned with how that will affect my case.” The redhead chuckled mirthlessly. So that’s what it was all really about for her. “I know you think that I’m only interested in maintaining my stats.”
“And why would I think that?” he asked sarcastically.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I like to win. I won’t deny that,” she said defiantly. “But I’m also aware of what having good win-lose statistics means. Years ago, when we dated, I was forced to make certain deals that I didn’t necessarily want to make.”
“Really?” He wasn’t sure whether or not he could believe that.
“You think I like - liked - the idea of putting a cop killer back out on the streets?”
Horatio didn’t bother to hide his hesitation right then. It was a hurtful thing to do, which part of him could accept was wrong. And maybe it was even worse to do it now when Kyle was in jail. But at the same time, the redhead couldn’t let his disappointment over that situation go.
Even though it turned out Ray hadn’t died in that shooting, the feelings from that time had lingered on. And even putting his brother aside, there had been other cops - nearly countless men and women who had paid the ultimate price for trying to do their jobs. There were some Horatio had never met, but that didn’t mean their deaths hadn’t weighed heavily on his mind.
It bothered him that there were individuals who had no problem killing someone who merely happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And worse still were the people who could look at those situations and willingly make deals - regardless of the reason - with that kind of criminal.
So perhaps he could have been more mature; maybe Horatio should have handled this situation better. But there were some things that still affected him. Yes, he had a son in need, and that mattered to him as well.
However, Kyle was a new addition, someone the redhead… hadn’t gotten used to thinking of first, in all honesty. And once more, Horatio couldn’t help but think that he was a horrible father.
But… it wasn’t easy adjusting to this new way of life, and maybe some relics from his past were bound to remain a part of him.
At that moment, the father couldn’t stifle the thought that it was so hypocritical of him to want his son to be any other way. To want his son to willingly welcome him with open arms and to… forget about the past entirely. To ask his child to do things that he himself could not - maybe even would not - do.
“I guess you do believe that,” Rebecca said sadly, interrupting his thoughts. “That’s useful information. Thank you for letting me know.” Her usually strong voice sounded hurt, betrayal rounding off the edge of each word.
He sighed in exasperation. They didn’t have time to deal with this. “You said you were going to prosecute Kyle. But I think it’s pretty clear that no jury would convict him based on the evidence we just handed you.”
She shook her head. “Horatio, you think your son is innocent? Because last I checked he still helped kidnap a woman.”
“The boy was blackmailed,” he told her, imploring Rebecca to see reason.
“Yes, I know. But there were any number of times when Kyle could have reached out for help. And he didn’t. You can’t honestly believe that he had no choice but to go along with this plan.”
Horatio sighed once again. In this instance, Rebecca was right, giving voice to something the redhead had tried not to think about.
“You care about him, I get it. But isn’t there a larger question here? Doesn’t it matter that Kyle Harmon isa criminal, no matter how he’s related to you? And regardless of how he got involved, doesn’t he deserve some punishment for that?”
She took a step forward, narrowing the gap between them.
“Maybe,” Horatio conceded. “But you cut a deal with the other two teenagers involved in the kidnapping. Don’t they deserve to be punished as well?”
Rebecca hesitated before revealing, “I pulled their deals after reading your evidence.”
“And are they being charged as adults?”
“No.” But before he could respond, she added, “But then again, neither of the other two teenagers have any priors. Kyle does.”
“Small things,” Horatio tried to argue.
“Maybe so, but the escalation in his crimes alone tells me that I shouldn’t treat him like just another kid who made a few bad decisions. And when I have no assurances that he won’t do something like this again -”
“You have me.”
The three simple words were followed by stark silence, as though the two of them were beginning to realize just how meaning his words had been.
“So then you’re going to take this teenager into your home.”
The redhead murmured his assent. “I am,” he said more clearly.
“Well… that’s great, I guess. But…” there was something in her voice, a sadness, that disturbed him. “I’m not sure that’s enough. I mean - this kid has to have serious problems. How do you know that your presence alone will help him?”
She tapped her right fingers nervously against her left wrist. “If anything, I think letting him go free.” She stopped speaking, as she obviously searched for the right words to say. “Even just letting him plea down - won’t that teach him that he can get away with anything? That he won’t have to face the consequences of his actions because his father is a cop?”
Horatio hadn’t thought of it that way, but still… how could he let his own kid sit in a prison cell. “I’m not asking you to ignore what the boy has done. He has obviously broken the law, made some mistakes, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that he sees what he’s done. And learns from it.
“But,” he said in irritation. “Trying him as an adult is not the answer.” Horatio shifted on his feet. While he needed Rebecca to agree with him, his patience was wearing thin. “He needs to be punished? Fine. But there is nothing about him that suggests he is little more than a menace to society.”
“So you believe there’s some hope for him?”
“I know that if the boy goes to prison, there is no hope. He’ll get out in a matter of years, and then we’ll have a real problem on our hands.”
It took Rebecca some time to respond. She seemed to mull over his words, and that gave him some hope, because at least she wasn’t just turning him down. Finally, the prosecutor told him, “Okay. I’ll put his case on the juvenile prosecutor’s desk. And, as long as your son agrees to testify against the other teenagers in the case, he’ll get probation. Till he’s 18, of course. Kyle won’t be able to drive or get a license, if he doesn’t have one already.” She stopped speaking for a minute, but there was no doubt in Horatio’s mind that there was more. Rattling requirements off the top of her head (at least it seemed that way), she continued, “He’ll have to maintain a 3.5 grade point average, do a thousand hours of community service, and he’ll have an 8 pm curfew. This isn’t going to be house arrest; Harmon’s going to be expected to go out into the community and learn how to deal with his issues in a constructive manner.”
Horatio nodded his head as she listed caveat after caveat. It was a lot to be held accountable for, and the redhead knew that if the boy had a bad day, did something stupid, his future would be over. So it would just be Horatio’s job to make sure that didn’t happen.
“Also, you’ll have to agree to custody,” she added. “I mean it, Horatio. You seem so convinced that this boy has some… hidden goodness. So it’ll be your job to find that. No one else’s.” The warning tone in her voice was not missed by him.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Rebecca.”
“He messes up - and I mean in any way - if any of the conditions are broken - I will make it my personal mission to make sure Kyle spends the rest of his high school days in juvy.”
And as he accepted what she was telling him, the redhead thought of something. ‘I think I need to speak to the juvenile prosecutor.”
She scoffed at the comment, however. “You think I’m being too harsh?”
“I think… you can’t make a deal out of your jurisdiction.”
“Horatio,” she began slowly. “The juvy D.A. and I are… well, we’re dating,” Rebecca said, as though that explained everything. “Unlike some people, he trusts my judgment. If I tell him that this kid should have these conditions, then he’ll do that.”
This arrangement made the redhead feel uneasy. There was a reason why there were checks and balances, separate spheres in the legal system. But at the same time… part of him had to admit that this situation made it easier to get what he wanted.
And the lieutenant inside of him was slightly miffed at the idea of… accepting something less than just for his own personal gain. No doubt, Horatio was sure that at some point he would feel guilty about this. That there would, in the future, be a kid who would be penalized for this situation.
But right now, the only person who mattered was Kyle. And any other concerns would have to wait.
“All right,” the redhead said in agreement.
“You’ll have to fill out some paper work. Kyle won’t need to sign them, since I guess technically you automatically have custody and are therefore the one in charge of any legal decisions.”
“How quickly can we make this happen?” The impatience seeped through every syllable.
“I can get Vernon down here in fifteen minutes. But a judge will take longer.”
Looking down at his wristwatch, Horatio could understand why. Noon had just hit, which meant everyone would be out for lunch. “Think we could get squeezed in before one?”
Rebecca frowned before walking towards the door. Jerking it open, she turned and told him, “I’ll see what I can do.” And hope began to fill him. This would soon be over, he thought to himself. “By the way,” she said almost nonchalantly. “When we were dating, I always thought that you were… you know, kind of boring. Bland. For what it’s worth - keeping a bastard son from your family? That’s pretty cold of you. But like I said, I’ll see what I can do. Keep your pager near by.”
His door clattered shut, his mind reeling. Horatio silently went about picking apart what she’d said. So Rebecca had thought he was boring. That didn’t surprise him much. The redhead had never really told her more than he was comfortable with. Which made him seem pretty bland and straight-laced. It was what he’d wanted, he supposed.
Moving along, leafing through her words, he paused at “keeping a bastard son from your family.” Horatio balked at the use of the word, bastard. And there was no doubt in his mind that it had been used to upset him.
But then he moved away from the offensive term. And he realized that she’d used it to mask a different truth. A little voice inside of him whispered: there was no way she could know whether or not his family knew unless she’d talked to them. Because without that special knowledge, one might assume that everyone else had known about Kyle and had agreed to keep his existence a secret.
Rebecca hadn’t said that though. She’d known that he’d kept it from Yelina and Ray Junior.
And then the image of Yelina at the police station popped into his mind.
His sister-in-law had been there. She’d been in an area where Rebecca could easily talk to her. And at that point in the day, the prosecutor had been furious with him for allegedly trying to hoodwink a deal for Kyle with Stetler.
So there it was: motive and opportunity and a revealing statement.
And the reality hit him like a punch in the pit of his stomach.
Yelina knew the truth.
End (27/??)
Author: Duckie Nicks
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Yelina Salas, Horatio Caine, the whole Caine family
Author's Note: WARNING: SPOILER FOR SEASON 6.
Summary: Almost two decades ago, Horatio made a decision that would change his family forever. Will they ever forgive him? Will he ever tell Yelina how he feels? This is an alternative to the beginning of season 6. A Horatio and Kyle story; H/Y romance in the future. Fulfills
alphabetasoup prompt, P is for Pangu.
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, and Chapter 25.
Disclaimer: I own the show, just as I'm America's Next Top Model. ;) Don't sue.
“Resolve, and thou art free.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The hum of the appliances and a nearby clock ticking did little to ease the silence settling in between them. For her part, Yelina was determined not to say anything; Stetler was the kind of man who didn’t like to talk before he was ready. And though she’d had no problem ignoring that fact in the past, now was not one of those days where she felt like initiating the conversation. Because who knew what the dark-haired man would say.
Every so often, her hazel eyes glanced over at him to see if she could tell which version of Rick she would encounter. She hoped that he would understand, that he would listen to what the brunette had said and believe her. It didn’t seem like a foolish request; he could be a wonderful man when he wanted to be. And she could only pray that this was the side of him he would show her.
But realistically… Yelina thought that it was unlikely. Maybe, she thought, she was just expecting the worst. Perhaps he would be understanding, but what it all amounted to was that nothing he could have done would have kept her here for that period of time. That if she was destined to be in Rio, then he was doomed to lose her.
How he would react to that made her uneasy. On the one hand, did the brunette really want her ex-boyfriend to be… content with losing her? A large part of her knew that they had broken up for good reason, but that didn’t mean Yelina believed that there had been nothing in their relationship worth mourning. And she knew that if he felt differently, it would sting worse than any slap he’d given her ever could.
Nonetheless, if Stetler became angry, possibly violent - well, the brunette didn’t want that either.
“Okay,” he finally said, nodding his head up and down.
Her eyes trained on him almost immediately, searching. But the I.A.B. agent gave away nothing, and so she asked, “’Okay?’”
“Yup.” It was a simple answer but one that told her nothing. She thought it might have sounded non-committal, but then again, Stetler might easily be conserving his energy for a huge fight.
And Yelina tried to figure out which it might be, her body feeling tense in the chair.
But whatever she was expecting didn’t happen.
The silence between them was broken by the sound of the taxi outside honking its horn. Stetler stood up, and she waited, her entire body on edge. All he did though was stand up.
As he walked passed her, the dark-haired man leaned down, pressing his warm lips to her cool forehead. It was more reassuring than anything else he’d done over the years, and it was enough to have her reaching out, grabbing his arm with her hands.
“Are you mad?” she asked, her voice unsure.
He shrugged. “Not really, no.” She could feel her brow furrowing, her mouth turning down into a frown. It made no sense that he wouldn’t care - made even less sense that she wanted him to. Eventually, Rick added, “I’ve… been trying to learn not to get upset over things I can’t change.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Anger management,” he explained. “It doesn’t always work… obviously.”
A chuckle got caught in her throat. The admittance was almost funny, but the stinging reminder that was her thigh took nearly all of the humor out of it. “Right,” she said.
The taxi honked its horn again, and Rick sighed. “Look,” he began simply. “I don’t like what you did - and part of me is always gonna wonder what would have happened between us if you hadn’t moved to Brazil.”
Yelina sighed sadly, nodding her head in agreement. It was a question that plagued her mind as well.
“But I guess it’s pointless, huh? To think about what might have been,” he conceded.
“I guess,” she said quietly. And there was a brief pause before the brunette figuratively walked into the territory that she had been trying to avoid. “But maybe… we could see what… happens this time.” Her voice was soft but stilted, sounding just as she felt - unsure that she should be saying it. Unsure if she meant it.
Because Yelina was more than aware of his problems, and maybe it was foolish to want to go down that road again. Especially since her son would hate it.
But then again, Ray Junior had pushed Horatio towards her for so long, had wanted that relationship to come together. And now the brunette doubted that it could have ever worked, given her brother-in-law’s insecurities and inadequacies.
Rick might be abusive at times, she decided, but at least he was straightforward with his problems for the most part. There might be the constant wondering that something would go wrong, that she would push him too far. But at least he didn’t lull her into a false sense of security and then easily shatter the peace.
In the end, Yelina thought that she expected problems in any relationship. And at least there was no lie from Rick about what he was capable of. With Horatio… well, she just didn’t know anymore, did she? She just had no idea what the redhead could or would do to her.
Looking up at the dark-haired man standing next to her, she waited to see what he would say.
He sighed in what appeared to be exasperation. “I think that would be a bad idea,” he said simply. And then after a moment’s hesitation, Rick told her, “But… I’ve missed you, Ellie.”
“I know.”
Leaning down once more, he kissed her on the lips. It was chaste, polite… dismissive.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll call you later.” Another kiss to her forehead, a sharp, “Be good,” and Rick left.
And between the mix of emotions - defiance, anger, resentment, relief - Yelina couldn’t help but feel just a little bit empty.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Horatio closed the door to his office right after Rebecca walked through it. Watching her, he noticed how she glanced around the room, her lips curling up in disdain.
“Did you sleep in here?” The prosecutor spun around, her arms folded across her chest.
“We worked on the case throughout the night,” the redhead explained. “Is that a problem?” He knew it was probably wrong to sound so… combative, but the truth was Horatio wanted this to be over with quickly. Because every second she spent chatting about how messy his office was or something else was another moment where his son had to be in the holding cell.
“It is, actually.” Rebecca started to lean back against his desk, but noticing the mounds of paperwork on the tabletop, she thought better of it. “I need you and Calleigh Duquesne to be reliable witnesses. And right now, all I see is evidence that you two are overworked and tired.”
He frowned and glanced at her, his blue eyes looking at her sadly. “Rebecca, our test results can be trusted.”
“That’s what you might believe, and it may even be true, Horatio. But a defense attorney would pick you apart over this.”
You don’t need to worry about me,” he said.
“I’m not,” she told him, her voice filled with honesty. “But I am concerned with how that will affect my case.” The redhead chuckled mirthlessly. So that’s what it was all really about for her. “I know you think that I’m only interested in maintaining my stats.”
“And why would I think that?” he asked sarcastically.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I like to win. I won’t deny that,” she said defiantly. “But I’m also aware of what having good win-lose statistics means. Years ago, when we dated, I was forced to make certain deals that I didn’t necessarily want to make.”
“Really?” He wasn’t sure whether or not he could believe that.
“You think I like - liked - the idea of putting a cop killer back out on the streets?”
Horatio didn’t bother to hide his hesitation right then. It was a hurtful thing to do, which part of him could accept was wrong. And maybe it was even worse to do it now when Kyle was in jail. But at the same time, the redhead couldn’t let his disappointment over that situation go.
Even though it turned out Ray hadn’t died in that shooting, the feelings from that time had lingered on. And even putting his brother aside, there had been other cops - nearly countless men and women who had paid the ultimate price for trying to do their jobs. There were some Horatio had never met, but that didn’t mean their deaths hadn’t weighed heavily on his mind.
It bothered him that there were individuals who had no problem killing someone who merely happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And worse still were the people who could look at those situations and willingly make deals - regardless of the reason - with that kind of criminal.
So perhaps he could have been more mature; maybe Horatio should have handled this situation better. But there were some things that still affected him. Yes, he had a son in need, and that mattered to him as well.
However, Kyle was a new addition, someone the redhead… hadn’t gotten used to thinking of first, in all honesty. And once more, Horatio couldn’t help but think that he was a horrible father.
But… it wasn’t easy adjusting to this new way of life, and maybe some relics from his past were bound to remain a part of him.
At that moment, the father couldn’t stifle the thought that it was so hypocritical of him to want his son to be any other way. To want his son to willingly welcome him with open arms and to… forget about the past entirely. To ask his child to do things that he himself could not - maybe even would not - do.
“I guess you do believe that,” Rebecca said sadly, interrupting his thoughts. “That’s useful information. Thank you for letting me know.” Her usually strong voice sounded hurt, betrayal rounding off the edge of each word.
He sighed in exasperation. They didn’t have time to deal with this. “You said you were going to prosecute Kyle. But I think it’s pretty clear that no jury would convict him based on the evidence we just handed you.”
She shook her head. “Horatio, you think your son is innocent? Because last I checked he still helped kidnap a woman.”
“The boy was blackmailed,” he told her, imploring Rebecca to see reason.
“Yes, I know. But there were any number of times when Kyle could have reached out for help. And he didn’t. You can’t honestly believe that he had no choice but to go along with this plan.”
Horatio sighed once again. In this instance, Rebecca was right, giving voice to something the redhead had tried not to think about.
“You care about him, I get it. But isn’t there a larger question here? Doesn’t it matter that Kyle Harmon isa criminal, no matter how he’s related to you? And regardless of how he got involved, doesn’t he deserve some punishment for that?”
She took a step forward, narrowing the gap between them.
“Maybe,” Horatio conceded. “But you cut a deal with the other two teenagers involved in the kidnapping. Don’t they deserve to be punished as well?”
Rebecca hesitated before revealing, “I pulled their deals after reading your evidence.”
“And are they being charged as adults?”
“No.” But before he could respond, she added, “But then again, neither of the other two teenagers have any priors. Kyle does.”
“Small things,” Horatio tried to argue.
“Maybe so, but the escalation in his crimes alone tells me that I shouldn’t treat him like just another kid who made a few bad decisions. And when I have no assurances that he won’t do something like this again -”
“You have me.”
The three simple words were followed by stark silence, as though the two of them were beginning to realize just how meaning his words had been.
“So then you’re going to take this teenager into your home.”
The redhead murmured his assent. “I am,” he said more clearly.
“Well… that’s great, I guess. But…” there was something in her voice, a sadness, that disturbed him. “I’m not sure that’s enough. I mean - this kid has to have serious problems. How do you know that your presence alone will help him?”
She tapped her right fingers nervously against her left wrist. “If anything, I think letting him go free.” She stopped speaking, as she obviously searched for the right words to say. “Even just letting him plea down - won’t that teach him that he can get away with anything? That he won’t have to face the consequences of his actions because his father is a cop?”
Horatio hadn’t thought of it that way, but still… how could he let his own kid sit in a prison cell. “I’m not asking you to ignore what the boy has done. He has obviously broken the law, made some mistakes, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that he sees what he’s done. And learns from it.
“But,” he said in irritation. “Trying him as an adult is not the answer.” Horatio shifted on his feet. While he needed Rebecca to agree with him, his patience was wearing thin. “He needs to be punished? Fine. But there is nothing about him that suggests he is little more than a menace to society.”
“So you believe there’s some hope for him?”
“I know that if the boy goes to prison, there is no hope. He’ll get out in a matter of years, and then we’ll have a real problem on our hands.”
It took Rebecca some time to respond. She seemed to mull over his words, and that gave him some hope, because at least she wasn’t just turning him down. Finally, the prosecutor told him, “Okay. I’ll put his case on the juvenile prosecutor’s desk. And, as long as your son agrees to testify against the other teenagers in the case, he’ll get probation. Till he’s 18, of course. Kyle won’t be able to drive or get a license, if he doesn’t have one already.” She stopped speaking for a minute, but there was no doubt in Horatio’s mind that there was more. Rattling requirements off the top of her head (at least it seemed that way), she continued, “He’ll have to maintain a 3.5 grade point average, do a thousand hours of community service, and he’ll have an 8 pm curfew. This isn’t going to be house arrest; Harmon’s going to be expected to go out into the community and learn how to deal with his issues in a constructive manner.”
Horatio nodded his head as she listed caveat after caveat. It was a lot to be held accountable for, and the redhead knew that if the boy had a bad day, did something stupid, his future would be over. So it would just be Horatio’s job to make sure that didn’t happen.
“Also, you’ll have to agree to custody,” she added. “I mean it, Horatio. You seem so convinced that this boy has some… hidden goodness. So it’ll be your job to find that. No one else’s.” The warning tone in her voice was not missed by him.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Rebecca.”
“He messes up - and I mean in any way - if any of the conditions are broken - I will make it my personal mission to make sure Kyle spends the rest of his high school days in juvy.”
And as he accepted what she was telling him, the redhead thought of something. ‘I think I need to speak to the juvenile prosecutor.”
She scoffed at the comment, however. “You think I’m being too harsh?”
“I think… you can’t make a deal out of your jurisdiction.”
“Horatio,” she began slowly. “The juvy D.A. and I are… well, we’re dating,” Rebecca said, as though that explained everything. “Unlike some people, he trusts my judgment. If I tell him that this kid should have these conditions, then he’ll do that.”
This arrangement made the redhead feel uneasy. There was a reason why there were checks and balances, separate spheres in the legal system. But at the same time… part of him had to admit that this situation made it easier to get what he wanted.
And the lieutenant inside of him was slightly miffed at the idea of… accepting something less than just for his own personal gain. No doubt, Horatio was sure that at some point he would feel guilty about this. That there would, in the future, be a kid who would be penalized for this situation.
But right now, the only person who mattered was Kyle. And any other concerns would have to wait.
“All right,” the redhead said in agreement.
“You’ll have to fill out some paper work. Kyle won’t need to sign them, since I guess technically you automatically have custody and are therefore the one in charge of any legal decisions.”
“How quickly can we make this happen?” The impatience seeped through every syllable.
“I can get Vernon down here in fifteen minutes. But a judge will take longer.”
Looking down at his wristwatch, Horatio could understand why. Noon had just hit, which meant everyone would be out for lunch. “Think we could get squeezed in before one?”
Rebecca frowned before walking towards the door. Jerking it open, she turned and told him, “I’ll see what I can do.” And hope began to fill him. This would soon be over, he thought to himself. “By the way,” she said almost nonchalantly. “When we were dating, I always thought that you were… you know, kind of boring. Bland. For what it’s worth - keeping a bastard son from your family? That’s pretty cold of you. But like I said, I’ll see what I can do. Keep your pager near by.”
His door clattered shut, his mind reeling. Horatio silently went about picking apart what she’d said. So Rebecca had thought he was boring. That didn’t surprise him much. The redhead had never really told her more than he was comfortable with. Which made him seem pretty bland and straight-laced. It was what he’d wanted, he supposed.
Moving along, leafing through her words, he paused at “keeping a bastard son from your family.” Horatio balked at the use of the word, bastard. And there was no doubt in his mind that it had been used to upset him.
But then he moved away from the offensive term. And he realized that she’d used it to mask a different truth. A little voice inside of him whispered: there was no way she could know whether or not his family knew unless she’d talked to them. Because without that special knowledge, one might assume that everyone else had known about Kyle and had agreed to keep his existence a secret.
Rebecca hadn’t said that though. She’d known that he’d kept it from Yelina and Ray Junior.
And then the image of Yelina at the police station popped into his mind.
His sister-in-law had been there. She’d been in an area where Rebecca could easily talk to her. And at that point in the day, the prosecutor had been furious with him for allegedly trying to hoodwink a deal for Kyle with Stetler.
So there it was: motive and opportunity and a revealing statement.
And the reality hit him like a punch in the pit of his stomach.
Yelina knew the truth.
End (27/??)