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Part I: Rebirth
Chapter 1 ::
Chapter 2 ::
Chapter 3 ::
Chapter 4 ::
Chapter 5 ::
Chapter 6 ::
Chapter 7 ::
Chapter 8
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 1 ::
Chapter 2 ::
Chapter 3 ::
Chapter 4 ::
Chapter 5 ::
Chapter 6 ::
Chapter 7 ::
Chapter 8
Finally there was something to work from. The hope that maybe they could find the island lifted spirits that had had fallen to rock bottom. They didn't have a lot of time though -- a few more days to analyze the data, narrow the search area, find Crockett and get him out.
The rest of that day and the next saw a flurry of activity. The Coast Guard located the foghorns. The FBI computers analyzed the noise levels and determined the approximate distance of the two horns. From the locations and distances, a search area was identified -- larger than was hoped for but a whole lot less than what it was when Castillo had first assembled the task force. It was an area full of small islands and cays about 500 miles south of Miami in the Bahamian out islands. Most of the islands were privately owned and almost impossible to trace. On one of them, Mario Fuente was playing his sadistic games. It was going to take too long to search all of them even with the help of the surveillance planes that were out there shooting pictures. Unless they were very lucky, the seven-day reprieve would come and go before they could locate Crockett and get him out.
On the morning of Day 5 a lanky, funny-looking man with large dark-rimmed glasses and a heavy Cuban accent walked into OCB. "I need to see Lieutenant Castillo," he said.
OCB was an undercover operation -- no one was supposed to know that this was a police office. Inside the front doors was a reception area that looked like any other office. Anyone who happened to stray in by mistake wouldn't know that the receptionist at the front desk was actually a police sergeant, and that there were security cameras covering the entrance and lobby. The sergeant at the desk was new. She didn't know Isidro Moreno, and became suspicious when he asked for Castillo. So she phoned upstairs to let them know that someone was asking to see the lieutenant.
Rico took the call, and immediately checked the security screen to see who was there. He recognized the man right away. "Izzy" had been the number one informant for Crockett and Tubbs when they worked vice. He was supposedly legit now, but if something was going on in the Miami underworld, Izzy was still certain to know about it. Rico told the sergeant that he would be down right away.
As he entered the lobby from the staircase, Rico smiled and walked over to the man. "Izzy -- been a long time man," he smiled, "what can we do yah for?"
"Hey Rico my man," he replied, "welcome back to Miami. You here to help Crockett? I heard that he was in some kinda big trouble with Fuente. Hey, I owe Sonny - but don't tell him that. He still owes me fifity bucks." Izzy always seemed to have some scheme going. They kept talking as Rico led him to the squad room.
"What do you know about it Izzy?" Rico asked, his interest peaked.
"Oh, a little bit this, a little bit that. The word on the street is that Fuente has him held up on his island and that no one knows where it is. Maybe the Izz-man can help you out mang."
Rico grabbed Izzy's arm and dragged him the rest of the way to Castillo's office. "Lieutenant, Izzy here says he may have something that can help us locate Crockett."
"Let's hear it Moreno," Castillo said, lifting his eyes off the page he was reading.
Izzy was twirling an envelope in his hands. "I don't know if these will help. A friend of a friend of a friend gave them to me. They're photographic dispositions he took when he visited Senor Fuente's island a few years ago. They don't show much, just some old building and the magnifico house that Senor Fuente contructionated. If I give them to you, maybe there's some way you can thank the Izz-mang. Like I got some undeserved parking tickets from an effervescent young police officer that maybe he was mistaken about."
Rico glared at the man. "Hand them over now Izzy or this effervescent cop just might constructionate some tickets all over your body." He grabbed the envelope out of the man's hands and passed it over to the lieutenant.
There was a long pause as Castillo took the pictures out and looked at them. And then the hint of a smile materialized on his face. For the first time since he'd seen the tape in New York, Tubbs felt a glimmer of real hope. It wasn't very often that he had seen Martin Castillo smile.
"Hey man," blurted out Izzy, "you get Crockett out, you tell him he owes me fifty bucks huh. Maybe plus interest too."
Castillo's face returned to its usual unreadable self. "Thanks for the pictures Moreno. I'll remind Crockett he owes you the fifty the next time I see him." He then directed his gaze at Tubbs. "See that Mr. Moreno gets a ride home and then get the force together. We'll need the airborne surveillance tapes."
He got Izzy a ride and went to see Gina and Trudy. The look on his face was a good sign. Neither of them had seen Rico smile since he landed in Miami. As he walked over to their desks, he punched his fist into the air. The resounding "YES" and the pirouette only confirmed that something good had just happened.
"Get the team together ladies. I've got to get me some surveillance tapes. We meet in the strategy room ASAP."
There wasn't a lot on the pictures, but there was enough detail to pinpoint the island from the surveillance tapes. It took them the rest of the afternoon and into the evening to confirm the location. But by the end of the day, they were pretty certain they had the right place. The rescue plan had been pretty much in place from the start. All they had needed to put it into motion was the location and now they had it.
The island was privately owned and outside the jurisdiction of the US. As such, there could be no official support for the group going in -- they would be totally on their own until they got back inside the territorial limits. Castillo decided to use his own detectives along with Gina, Tubbs and himself as the strike team. They had all worked together for five years or more and knew each other very well. Besides, they were the ones that had been closest to Crockett - they were the ones who had the most to gain by getting him out, and the most to lose if anything went wrong.
By seven o'clock everyone had left except for Castillo and Tubbs. It was time to go home, get ready for tomorrow, and rest up. The next few days were going to need everyone in top shape. Rico packed up his briefcase and decided to head back to his hotel for a long hot shower and relaxing dinner before getting his things ready. As he was heading out the door, he saw a familiar face from the past entering the building. It was Caroline, Sonny's ex- wife.
Tubbs stepped back inside with her. It was quite a surprise to see her here. "What on earth are you doing here Caroline?"
"I could ask you the same question Rico," she replied. "Sonny told me you went back to New York. I came here to see if anyone might know where Sonny is. He was supposed to come to Ocala, but he never showed up."
Tubbs didn't know how much she knew, so he decided to let Castillo handle it escorted her to the lieutenant's office. He knocked on the door, opened it and invited himself in.
"Lieutenant, Sonny's ex-wife is here. She's asking about Crockett. What should I tell her?"
He dropped his head back down and continued sorting the pages on his desk. "I'll see her. Show her in."
Rico escorted her into Castillo's office. Castillo rose from his chair and came around the desk to shake her hand. "Lieutenant Castillo," introduced Tubbs, "this is Caroline Ballard, Sonny Crockett's ex- wife. Caroline, this is Lieutenant Martin Castillo."
"How can I help you?" Castillo asked.
"I don't know whether you can help me or not Lieutenant. I'm worried about Sonny. He promised our son Billy that he would come to Ocala for his graduation, but he never showed up. It's not like him to break a promise when it's important. I know he doesn't work here anymore, but I was hoping that maybe he might keep in touch. I had to come here on business, so I just thought I'd drop in to see if anyone had heard from him or knows where he is."
"Sonny doesn't keep in touch with us, but we do happen to know where he is," he replied.
She sighed, "He's okay then? Billy will be relieved." She didn't say anything about herself.
Castillo straightened the papers on his desk, and after a slight pause he continued, "I wouldn't exactly say that," he cautioned. "There are probably a few things we should discuss." He looked up at her. "I was just leaving to get some dinner. Would you care to join me?"
"Thank you Lieutenant, I could use something to eat."
A worried look came over her face. What did they need to discuss? And why was Rico here? He and Sonny had been partners and best friends. Was he here because something had happened to Sonny. "Rico, what's going on? Why are you in Miami? Where's Sonny? Is something wrong? Is he alright?"
Castillo looked over at Tubbs. "Rico, would you care to join us for dinner?" Rico nodded yes. This wasn't going to be a relaxing dinner after all.
They went to a quiet restaurant not too far from the hotel where both Rico and Caroline were staying. Caroline's patience lasted until they had ordered dinner. "Can you please tell me what's going on now? You've got me very worried."
Castillo was not one to mince words or dance around a subject. He told her that Sonny was in trouble - that he had been kidnapped and was being held hostage on an island in the Bahamas by Mario Fuente. He told her that they knew where he was and that a team was leaving the next morning to get him away from Fuente and bring him back to Miami. "We should be back in a few days," he said. He didn't add "if all goes well", and he didn't tell her about the videotapes.
"Why are you here Rico?" Caroline asked.
"Sonny was my partner and my friend. He pulled me out of a lot of tight spots and was always there for me whenever I needed him. I came here to help him out. He looked at her, straight in the eyes. "Don't worry Caroline, we'll get him back." But he was nowhere near as confident of that on the inside as he sounded on the outside.
After dinner, Castillo dropped Caroline and Tubbs at the hotel. Rico walked her to her room and opened the lock. Before she went through the door, she turned around, looked at him and gave him a slip of paper with a phone number on it. "Rico, can you phone me when you get back. I just want to know when I can let Billy know that his father's OK."
"Sure thing, Caroline, I'll call you as soon as we get back," Tubbs assured her.
She entered the room, went to the sofa and sat down. Why did she feel the same way she used to feel when they were together and Sonny was out on an undercover assignment or heading up a major drug bust? She had left him years ago to rid herself of just that feeling -- the feeling that maybe this time he wouldn't come back.