Bittersweet Vengeance

Chapter 1

Horatio stood tall, peering out of a grubby window with one hand on his hip and the other clutching his sunglasses. The distinct smell of mould and dampness got caught in his nose as he focused on a drunk stumbling back to his motel room. He could detect a small hint of a metallic odour in the air from the blood that had oozed out of the victim.

"What have we got?" A familiar cheery voice questioned as the door opened. An involuntary smile appeared across Horatio's face as he turned around to see Zoë entering in a light pink blouse and black trousers. She flashed Horatio a wide, natural smile and then glanced around the room before her eyes set on the middle-aged man who lay on the floor face down before her. Eric entered and stood beside Zoë as she studied the victim with her intense brown eyes.

"We have here Michael Higgs, a 43 year old man, stabbed to death and mutilated." Alexx said as she glanced up at Zoë.

"Pre or post?" Zoë questioned as she pulled on some gloves as Horatio gazed at her, watching her delicate hands pull on the latex gloves with ease.

"I'm unsure honey, but I have a feeling that he was mutilated before his death." Alexx said softly.

"Where's the mutilation? I don't see any?" Zoë questioned, looking at the body, seeing all fingers attached, his face intact and his feet intact – the three areas which are usually chosen when it comes to mutilation.

"Have a look for yourself honey." Alexx said softly as she rolled the deceased man onto his back. Zoë's eyes settled on a large blood stain in the man's crotch area.

"He's been–" Zoë began but stopped herself as she looked down at the blood stain.

"Yes, his other part was left in the bin." Alexx said softly as Eric turned around and got a look himself. Both Alexx and Horatio watched the colour drain from Zoë's face as she swallowed.

"Honey, are you okay?" Alexx questioned and Zoë slowly nodded, unable to take her eyes off the man.

"Horatio, get her out of here and sit her down." Alexx said quickly, looking round to Horatio who'd already begun to make his way over to Zoë.

"Come on sweetheart." Horatio said as he gently turned her around and guided her out. Eric looked at Alexx as Alexx looked at him. They both took a long intake of the musky damp air and got on with their jobs.

Horatio sat Zoë on one of the benches outside of the small motel room and then sat next to her. She pulled her gloves off and dropped them into her pocket.

"Are you okay, Zoë?" Horatio questioned softly and Zoë nodded as she blinked and then closed her eyes as she shook her head. She got up and walked to the end of the path and turned back to Horatio as he followed. She looked down at her hands, she then began to fiddle with her fingers as she bit her lip.

"Sweetheart, talk to me." Horatio said very softly and calmly and she turned to him.

"One night, my father came home in a drunken rage and went for Josh after picking up a kitchen knife." Zoë swallowed as she continued to look down.

"He pushed my brother to the bed and pulled his trousers down as I ran in and took hold of his hand with the knife in, screaming at him. I was so little and he easily pushed me to the bed and leant on my neck next to Josh as we both continued to push his hands away with ours, but our hands were so small compared to his. He knelt on me to keep me down then released my neck as he held Josh firmly down." Zoë said as she swallowed again and glanced up at Horatio and then around to make sure they were alone.

"He went for Josh with the knife and got so close but our mother managed to stop him before he did anything but draw blood from one of Josh's thighs. I later learned that my father had done it as in his drunken state he believed that Freud's theory, the Oedipus complex would manifest itself in Josh and being the possessive man that he was, he felt like he needed to prevent that from happening." Zoë said softly as she looked up at Horatio. Horatio looked at her wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry, Zoë." Horatio said softly as he took hold of one of her hands, breaking the knot she was forming with her fingers.

"I'll have Mr Wolfe come out so you can get back to the lab." Horatio said softly as he raised his other to her face.

"No, it's okay, it's just seeing that brought back those memories, I'm fine. I'll get over it, it never happened to him. It's just the memories haunt me a little, but it's nothing I can't handle." She said softly as she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure?" Horatio questioned. "I can easily get Mr Wolfe out. " Horatio added.

"I'm really okay, there's no need for that." She said softly and Horatio gave her a nod.

"If you change your mind and you want to go back to the lab, just let me know, okay?" Horatio asked as he tucked some hair behind her ear.

"I will, thank you Horatio." She said with a soft, natural smile, feeling her memories float away as she looked up into his eyes.

"Let's get back in there and catch our killer." Zoë said with her usual bounce. Horatio gave her a nod and then watched her walk away and over to the room and disappear in. He quickly followed her and stood in the door way as Alexx looked up at Zoë.

"Everything okay, baby?" Alexx questioned.

"Yes, everything's good, I just skipped breakfast this morning." Zoë said with her fresh smile as she pulled another pair of gloves on.

"Honey, you skip breakfast every morning…" Alexx said with a raised eyebrow and Zoë chuckled a little.

"I do not skip breakfast every morning." Zoë scoffed with a smile. Her smile put Alexx right back at ease and she gave Zoë a small nod with her I-know-you-do face. Eric smiled at Zoë once he caught a glimpse of her infectious grin and got back to processing.

"Did he have any family?" Zoë questioned.

"Yes, he had a wife and 3 children." Alexx said as she picked up his wallet and held it out for Zoë to take. Zoë took it and looked at the family portrait.

"We'll have to notify the wife." Zoë said as she bagged the wallet and then got back to looking at the room. Zoë bent down and picked up a silver necklace and studied it with her torch.

"I've got some blood on this necklace." She said as she studied it intensely.

"Perhaps he had a mistress?" Zoë questioned as she glanced down at him.

"It's a possibility." Eric said as Horatio walked over and looked at the necklace as he stood just behind Zoë.

"It looks like it was pulled from the neck." Horatio said, noticing the blood on the chain.

"Yeah, the chain itself is broken, indicating that it was pulled from the woman's neck." Zoë said glancing back at him. Horatio nodded and let Zoë bag the evidence as she carried on with her job. Horatio strolled out and met with Frank to talk to him as Zoë looked over at Eric.

"Do you know why Natalia quit?" She questioned, curiously.

"Not really, she said she was quitting for personal reasons." Eric said as he glanced back at her and Zoë nodded.

"Yeah, I heard that but I was just wondering if you knew anything more." She said softly.

"Sorry, I don't." Eric said as he looked back to the chest of draws.

"She is okay though, isn't she?" Zoë asked, slightly worried about her.

"Yeah, she never said anything was wrong or gave the impression that something wasn't right." Eric said and Zoë nodded at him.

"I've got a blonde hair." Zoë said as she picked it up off the pillow with tweezers as she looked at the hair with the torch.

"Looks like our mistress is becoming more of a certainty, the wife has brown hair." Zoë said softly as she bagged it. Both Alexx and Eric looked at her and nodded.

"The wife may have caught on to what he was doing and took things into her own hands?" Eric suggested and Zoë nodded at him.

"It's a definite possibility." Zoë agreed as she picked up some more hair off the pillow, this time, brown and short, like the victims. She bagged it and turned around to place the bags down when she started looking at the bedside cabinet when Horatio walked back through.

"Hey do you want to check the bed for any signs of sexual intercourse and semen?" Eric questioned and Zoë looked back at him. Both Horatio and Eric saw her jaw clench as she visibly tensed.

'I don't think I've ever seen Zoë process a bed…' Eric thought to himself.

"Yeah… sure" she said as she stood up. She glanced at Horatio and he saw the terror in her eyes and could see that she didn't want to do it. She looked back down at the bed and picked up the specialised light and put a pair of goggles on. She scanned the duvet and then pulled it back and scanned the sheet.

Horatio saw her tense more as she looked at a point in the middle of the bed, she looked away and sharply inhaled as she turned the torch off.

"Zoë, go and get some water, you're looking a little pale again." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she quickly pulled the goggles off and put them away with the torch and walked out as Alexx and Eric turned around to look at her making a swift exit.

"Is she okay, Horatio?" Alexx questioned.

"Yeah, I think she just needs something to eat." Horatio said softly.

"You know, she should be eating something in the morning." Alexx said softly.

"She usually has some fruit." Horatio said softly and walked over to her kit and picked up her goggles and torch and processed the bed himself.

"There has definitely been sexual activity." Horatio said as he bagged the evidence and Zoë appeared back at the door.

"Sorry." She said softly.

"Feeling better?" Horatio questioned and she nodded at him with another fresh smile. She walked over to Horatio and mouthed 'thank you' at him and he gave her a nod.

"I'm going to get back to the lab, ring when you're done." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded at him.

"We won't be long anyway." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded at her as Alexx got the body out. Horatio made an exit and she gave Eric a smile as she turned around and began processing.