Risky Decisions

Chapter 1

A month and a bit had passed and Zoë was still debating whether to tell Horatio about the call she had received. Horatio had Eric run a caller ID and it came back with nothing, he knew it was Ratner, but he couldn't prove it or find out where they were hiding. They kept it on the down low.

During that month, Horatio had hired another CSI, his name was Jack Thomas, he was a good CSI, but his character could be quite questionable. Zoë had put him in his place a fair few times when he came on strong to her. A few times she had ripped into him in front of everyone to show him that she wasn't going to be played around with. He was a tall well-built man who looked after himself a lot. He certainly loved himself and thought that everyone around him also loved him too. He did have a very big ego, but he was also a smart man and a very good CSI. He liked to wear tight shirts, and fitted trousers. He always had too much wax in his hair, he had jet black hair and green eyes and had a little bit of stubble. This time, Horatio had dug deep into Jack's records and thoroughly checked him out. A repeat of last time would not be ideal.

Zoë had seemed a little distracted since she got the message, Ryan had spoken to Horatio about it who called her into his office.

"Horatio, you wanted to see me?" She asked as she walked in.

"I certainly do, take a seat." Horatio said with a smile.

"Zoë, I've noticed you've been a little distracted, is there anything bothering you?" Horatio asked as he leant forward on his desk looking at her with his blue eyes.

"No." she said bluntly realising where this was going.

"Is it Jack?" Horatio asked. Zoë's eyebrows lowered, as she looked at him.

"No, no, of course it's not." Zoë said defensively as Horatio realised that she was putting up the walls.

"If it is Jack, I can have a few words with him?" Horatio asked cautiously.

"No, Jack's fine – I can handle him on my own anyway, he only has a big ego." Zoë said with a small smile.

"Horatio, I'm fine, really." She said reassuring him with a genuine smile.

"Well, you're a fantastic CSI and I don't want anything distracting you."

"I'm fine Horatio, thank you for the concern." She said with a smile.

Meanwhile Jack and Eric were in the lab as Zoë walked past them. Jack ogled her as she walked past in a black suit with light pink shirt.

"Man she's got a tight ass." Jack said dropping everything he was doing.

"Hey." Eric said a little forcefully.

"What? Don't tell me that you've worked with her for all this time and you've not once had a thought like that." Jack said as his eyes followed her out.

"Well… I keep my thoughts in my head and I try not to think like that, she's our colleague. Don't be so disrespectful." Eric said dismissively.

"I wonder what she'd be like in bed. I reckon it'd be a fight for control with her." Jack said licking his lips.

"Hey!" Eric said getting a little annoyed. "You need to stop talking like that, if she ever heard you speaking like that about her I'm pretty sure she'd have you in a headlock before you have a chance to say that you're sorry." Eric said dropping his things staring at him stare at her.

"Hmm I bet… HEY ZOE!" Jack called as he dropped everything and ran out after her.

"He's impossible!" Eric said to himself as Ryan walked in looking back over to Jack who was running after Zoë.

"Who's impossible?" Ryan questioned.

"Him." Eric said looking over to Jack who had stopped Zoë and was now speaking to her. Ryan looked over to them.

"He's so disrespectful and piggish. I can't believe Horatio hired him." Eric said as he didn't take his eyes off him.

"Yeah, well Zoë can handle him. She won't take disrespect from anyone… He's a good CSI and I'm pretty sure he wasn't disrespectful to Horatio when he hired him." Ryan said looking over to them.

"I suppose you're right, doesn't he get it though?" Eric questioned.

"I know, she clearly isn't interested in him." Ryan added as he crossed his arms.

"Ohh, I hear a little bit of jealousy." Eric teased.

"Shut up will you. Has H had a word with her yet?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, he's had a few words with her, I don't know what she's said to him." Eric said as they saw Zoë turn away from Jack. They saw Jack swing his hand and smack her ass, their eyes widened and jaws dropped. They then saw Zoë turn around and raise her right hand and gave him a very forceful slap and walked off in a huff. Jack turned around with his head down holding his cheek walking back to the lab, he seemed to have a grin on his face.

He walked in and looked up dropping his arm down to his side. "She wants me." He said to them as they stood staring at him.

"Are you being serious?" Eric asked with anger almost building up as Jack strolled over to them.

"Well, I can't say you didn't deserve that." Ryan said with a small smirk.

"Come on lads, she's gagging for it." Jack said crossing his arms.

"She's really not." They both said simultaneously and then the door opened and Horatio walked up to them.

"Gentlemen, have you seen Miss Chambers?" Horatio asked as his eyes jumped from each of them and then settled on a very red mark on Jacks cheek. He stared at it narrowing his eyes as Jacks eyes widened.

"I think she's just gone to the desk to pick up her messages, I'm not sure though." Ryan added as Horatio's eyes didn't move from Jack's cheek.

"What happened to your cheek?" Horatio asked narrowing his eyes even more. Jacks heart almost skipped a beat, absolutely terrified and knowing that he had definitely crossed the line.