Chapter 2

She went out into her back garden and walked out of the gate, firmly shutting it after she stepped out onto the beach. She looked around and observed the sky, the sun hadn't come over the horizon yet, but the atmosphere was illuminated with its light. She smiled up at the sky and then scanned the beach, seeing a few joggers out. She began to jog up the beach at a steady pace when a man appeared behind her; he was jogging about 35 yards behind Zoë. She looked back when she heard him behind her and then carried on. Horatio also went out for a jog; he saw the joggers running up and down the beach and decided to go up the beach, his eyes focused on two people in the short distance. He saw the cast on the woman's left arm.

'Ah, that's Zoë.' He thought to himself. She heard the man behind her getting closer to her and she moved to the left and began to jog in the middle of the beach.

'What's she doing?' Horatio thought to himself watching her beginning to jog in the middle of the beach when she always jogged at the edge. He then saw the man behind her follow her to the middle of the beach. Horatio's eyebrows rose and he began to turn on the heat and began to sprint over to her as she casually jogged.

'Who is this creep?' Zoë thought to herself as she looked back a few times, taking note of his features. She saw Horatio running up the beach; she casually turned around and began to run down the beach along the edge. She acted calm, not alerting the male who seemed to be following her. He began to slow down and acted like he was catching his breath, he turned around and casually jogged back down the beach towards Zoë. Horatio saw this man jogging towards them. Zoë and Horatio were getting closer to each other when Zoë gestured to him to turn around. Horatio began to slow down as Zoë reached him.

"Just carry on running with me please." She said quietly and casually. They began to jog together slowly. Horatio looked back and the strange man was just turning off and began to jog down a path leading to the road.

"Are you okay?" He asked as they jogged.

"Yeah, he was just a little creepy." She said looking at him as they jogged.

"How long had he been following you for?" Horatio asked as they slowed and began to walk.

"He seemed to come out of no-where just after I had begun to jog. You know it's weird, before I went out I had a strange feeling." She said giving him a confused look.

"Okay, we're… we're going to have a look around your house in that case. Where is your gun?" Horatio asked as they walked down the beach, their eyes continuously scanning the beach, in front and behind them.

"Where I always put it, on the table by the front door. My spare is in my draw up stairs." She said looking over to him briefly.

"No-one could have got into my house, the security system is linked to my phone, it would alert me if anyone had entered or even if a window had been smashed. The system senses when my phone is out of the house." She said as she pulled the phone out of her sports bra. Horatio looked at her confused as she pulled it out and looked at the phone.

"I have no pockets, so I keep my phone in my bra." She said with a smile and chuckled at his expression.

"I… I see." He said with a small smile as he looked back up at her.

"Anyway, you've seen the security in my house. Nothing happens without me knowing it." She said as she checked the security on her phone.

"Nope, nothing's been accessed." She said as she put her phone away back in her bra. Horatio stopped her.

"What if someone got in while you were in the house? Your phone wouldn't alert you then…" He said looking at her, and then scanned the area.

"You need combinations to get in from any of the doors that lead to the outside and even the back garden gate. All the windows are locked." She said pulling her phone out again.

"Look, all the windows and doors are locked." She said as she showed him the screen.

"Okay, well I just want to check, okay?" Horatio said softly.

"Okay handsome." She said as they began to jog again. They got to her back garden gate and she put the code in. She opened it and shut it after Horatio walked in after her. They walked past the pool and got to the back door where Zoë placed her thumb on the print pad and then put another code in the key pad.

"I didn't realise the security was this tight." Horatio said with a smile now feeling a lot better about the situation. She opened the door and Horatio rushed past her and entered first. Zoë closed the door after them and put the password in on the screen by the back door as Horatio stood with his hands on his hips, observing the place.

"Nope, no doors or windows have been opened in the last 12 hours except for when I had come in and gone out." She said turning to him.

"Come here." She said softly as she tapped a few buttons on the touch screen. He walked over to her as she gently took his hand and she placed it on the screen. He looked at her curiously, completely trusting her. She pulled his hand off.

"Welcome Horatio." A woman's voice said as it radiated throughout the house. "Mute." Zoë said and the system went silent.

"Now you have your own identity to the house." She said with a small smile.

"You just need the codes, but obviously, don't write them down and don't tell anyone." She said with a soft voice. He looked at her feeling completely at ease, very happy to know that the house is so protected.

"Now, you know the front door code. The back is: 6376, the back gate is: 2941. You saw the finger scanner out the back; that will read your finger prints and identify you, you then need to hold the back door handle in a certain way, as there is also a hidden finger scanner in the handle, it's the same on the front door. However, if the key is used in the front door, the finger printing is only used to identify the user. You can enter the house now without the key, just place your fingers over the handle correctly and it will let you in." She said with a smile. "The system will register you when you enter, it's interactive but I generally keep her on silent because it can get a little annoying, I can activate it at any time, to check the status of the house or even to double check that the windows and doors are locked." She said with a big smile, knowing the more information she gave Horatio about it, the more his mind will ease.

"Well, I have to say, my mind is almost completely at ease now." He said softly smiling at her.

"I'm curious though… why do you have such a system?" He asked.

"Because, it makes me feel safe, and there's a lot of people out there that would love to get into my house and have tried plenty of times, some have succeeded. There are some people out there that would love to see me 6 feet under." She said as she locked the screen.

"I know the feeling." Horatio said with a small smile, she smiled at him.

"I need that shower now. Thank you handsome." She said as she placed a tender kiss on his dry lips.

"No problem, give me a call if you need anything." Horatio said with a smile as he kissed her back. He left through the back door and shut it after him and jogged down the beach, still scanning the area. He got back to his house, had a shower and got ready for work. Zoë did the same; she got dressed in her black suit with high waisted trousers with a red silk shirt. She looked at her new necklace in the mirror and smiled, she then sorted her hair and make-up, she pulled her jacket on over the cast and sorted it out. She stood back and got the same bad gut instinct.

She didn't know whether to ignore it or take notice.