HEY :)
OKAY . . . SO I HAVE HAD TO RETHINK THE STORY PLOT. THIS IS WHY CH 2 HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING. ACTUALLY, THE CHAPTER COULD HAVE GONE UP LAST NIGHT BUT I GOT DISTRACTED WATCHING 'SUPERSTORM SANDY' HITTING THE STATES. I'M PRAYING FOR ALL YOU GUYS IN THE TRI STATE AREA. TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE.
THANKYOU FOR ALL YOUR KIND REVIEWS. IT MEANS SO MUCH. ;)
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CHAPTER TWO.
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He walked into his house and threw the keys on the counter.
"Danny?"
"Yea. It's just me." He pulled off his Jacket and chucked it on the coat peg.
Lindsay appeared in the hallway and frowned. "Back from the crime scene so soon?"
Danny released a long, pent up breath. "The FBI were there. They went and kicked us out. Said this was their case."
Lindsay noticed the anxiety flicker in his eyes and she moved quickly toward him. "What's wrong?"
He rubbed at his forehead. "Two shots were fired into that house tonight. Seth Turner the owner of the property caught a bullet. He's dead. . . " He gazed back at her. "Linds. Jo was there when it happened."
Lindsays eyes widened. "What?"
"It's okay she wasn't hurt." He brought his arms around Lindsay and gave her a hug.
She let out a relieved sigh and leaned her head on his chest. "Thank God."
It only took several seconds, before her mind was racing once again. She drew away and gazed anxiously up at him. "So, this guy was a friend of Jo's?"
"Well, Don's guessing that Seth Turner ended up smack bang in the middle of an FBI Investigation Russ and Jo were involved in several years ago. Apparently Jo was very upset tonight." Danny sighed heavily. "So yea. Don thinks Seth and Jo knew each other pretty well."
Lindsay shook her head in disbelief. "Poor Jo." She gazed back at Danny. "Are the FBI not allowing us to help them with this case at all?"
Danny cursed under his breath. "No." He met Lindsay's frustrated gaze. "I don't think Don's planning on letting this go though. I saw him and Kye in a heated discussion just before I left."
"You mean Kye Simmonds, Jo's former FBI Partner?"
Danny sighed. "Yea."
"Did you hear what they were saying?" She asked hesitantly.
"No. they were about 100 meters down the road, talking in Kye's car. Kye looked pretty pissed off."
"My God. I can't believe this." She took Danny's hand and led him toward the kitchen. "C'mon. I'll make you a hot drink." She sighed.
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MIDNIGHT.
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Don checked the time. "C'mon. . . Where are you?"
It was past midnight now and he was beginning to doubt Kye would turn up at all, but several seconds later he caught sight of the car headlights up ahead and he released a long relieved breath.
Kye drew up alongside Don's car and checked his rear mirror. He scanned the area, then grabbed his brief case and exited the vehicle.
Don watched Kye as he walked around his car and jumped in the passenger side.
Kye slammed the car door shut and fixed Don with a stern stare. "Remind me why i'm putting my job on the line for you again?"
Don met his gaze. "That's a good question."
Kye muttered under his breath and unlocked his brief case. "I've photocopied the documents. Here's the case file. We have the ballistics report. . . ." He sighed inwardly. "You might want to look over this one too."
Don took them from Kye and frowned down at the third document. "Why have you given me Alex Cole's personnel file?"
Kye glanced back out the front windscreen. "Just read the case file Don." he sighed.
Several minutes later Kye turned back to Don and found him staring down at the second page. He released a long, heavy breath and glanced back out into the darkness. "2007 was a hard year for all of us. We had some pretty tough cases. A week before Megan Williams was kidnapped, Alex Cole commanded Jo to take a couple of weeks off. He told her she was no good to him exhausted, but we were all pretty emotionally and physically drained. Earlier that week we'd taken down several members of the Gambini Mafia. She was no more exhausted then the rest of us."
"My God." Don glanced back at Kye. "You think Cole wanted her out of the way?"
Kye shook his head. "I don't know. Take a look at the next page. Cole was nowhere near Hollis Lane that night. He was at Juan Valdez Bar with several work collegues between 20:00 – 22:00 discussing an undercover op on another case."
Don muttered under his breath as he scanned the page in front of him. "He had plenty of alibies. They all checked out."
Don turned to page four and looked at the list of names. Four FBI Agents, a Sid Bryans, Matthew Osbourne, Ed Hughes and Nolan Garrett, all said that Alex Cole was with them in the bar between 20:00 – 22:00 that night. Special Agent Norman Bridger had gone down there Thursday evening and talked to several Bartenders. He'd shown them Cole's photo and they told Norman that Cole was definitely in the bar with four other guys on Tuesday night.
Kye pushed out a long, frustrated breath and shook his head. "Jo's never let it go. She's certain she saw him that night, but no trace evidence belonging to Alex Cole, was found in that house."
Don glanced across at Kye. "But you believe her."
Kye rubbed at his forehead. "Yea. I do, but what good is that when we have no proof."
Don sighed inwardly and started flicking through Cole's Personnel File.
"You wont find anything in there. Cole's record's squeaky clean."
"Why doesn't that surprise me." Don released a long, pent up breath and glanced at the ballistics report.
Kye watched Don as he started looking through it. "Seth hated the FBI after what happened that night, and he refused to cooperate with them."
Don frowned back at him. "Why?"
Kye pointed to the fourth paragraph. "The bullet from Special Agent Steven Evan's gun ended up killing Megan."
Don drew in a deep breath, let it out. "That's . . . not good."
"No." Kye scanned the parking lot and glanced back at Don. "Seth became aggressive and confrontational toward them, so the Violent Crimes Division thought he was hiding something and for six whole months they tracked his every move. On December 4th, Jo found five bugs in Seth's apartment and a tracker on his phone. She got really mad and went to see Martin Howell, the head of Violent Crimes Division. He agreed to stop the surveillance."
"Kye. How long had Jo known Seth?"
Kye sighed inwardly and glanced out the side window. "She told me she met him whilst out with a group of friends one night in 2005." He gazed back at Don. "She lied."
Don raised his eyebrows at him. "She lied?"
"Yea. I've been doing some digging around in the last couple of months. I found out that when Seth was twelve years old, he moved to Alabama with his family. He lived in the same road as Jo, they went to the same school, they hung out together." Kye muttered under his breath and rubbed at his forehead. "They were best friends."
Don's eye's widened. "My God. Why would she lie about this?"
"Because she didn't want us to know Seth's real identity?" Kye murmured.
Unease crawled across Don's spine. "What?"
"I discovered this morning, that Seth had a fake Birth Certificate." Kye released a long, heavy breath. "His surname wasn't Turner Don. It was Cole."
Don's eyes widened. "You mean. . . Seth was Alex Cole's Son?"
"Yes. I checked the DNA Records."
"Jesus Christ!" Don grabbed Cole's personnel file again and started to flick through it. He stopped dead in his tracks and swore inwardly. "Let me guess. There's nothing in Cole's file that states he has a Son."
"Nope." Kye answered.
Don closed his eyes and dragged his fingers through his hair. "This just get's better and better. . . Wait. . ." He glanced quickly back at Kye. "Russ doesn't know about this?"
"I don't think he does. He cares about Jo, but he wouldn't have let something like this go. He would have taking her in for questioning by now If he knew she'd lied." Kye sighed heavily and looked back out at the darkness. "I have to hand this information in Don."
Don's eyes widened. "No! Look just keep this to yourself for now."
Kye swore under his breath. "I can't do that."
Crap! Don leaned back in his seat. God Jo. What the hell are you doing? He suddenly felt very sick.
Kye moved on quickly. "Anyway, as I was saying, Martin Howell stopped the surveillance on Seth. The FBI found no new leads, and Cain Jackson along with the other six perps were now locked up in New Jersey State Prison, so Howell closed the case on 15th December 2007."
Don swallowed back the emotions and forced himself to focus. "Okay." He started looking through the case file. "Why did they reopen the case?"
"We were investigating the kidnapping of Laura Henderson four months ago. We found her alive in the basement of a house down 6th Avenue. A couple of days later we managed to catch up with three of the five perps who'd abducted her. One of the three perps a Xander Griffiths buckled under interrogation. He told Russ that Cain Jackson had once been part of their criminal gang and boasted that in the last five years it had grown into a huge Criminal Organisation. He wouldn't give Russ any names. He just said that someone else took over from Cain when he was put away back in 2007. Now the FBI are trying to track down this organisation down."
"My God. . ." Don's breath suddenly stalled in his throat. He swallowed hard and gazed anxiously back at Kye. "You think several guys from this criminal organisation killed Seth tonight, don't you?"
Kye hesitated, then met Don's intense gaze. "These past few months, Seth's been doing some digging around himself."
Don raised his eyebrows at him. "You've been spying on Seth?"
Kye cursed inwardly and continued. "He's been looking into his family history. I caught him down at the library last week. I . . . think he must have found something out about his past. There could be a connection here with what happened back on the night of April 6th 2007. . . Maybe, this criminal organisation found out what he was up to. . ."
"What's the connection Kye?" Don interrupted angrily.
He released a long, pent up breath and gazed anxiously back at Don. "Look. I'm worried about Jo. That's why I met you here tonight. I need you and Mac to make sure she stays away from this case." He turned away and wrenched open the car door.
Don pulled him back. "Hey! You haven't told me everything!"
He stared angrily at Don. "I've told you what you need to know and I will not be discussing this case with you again." He yanked free of Don's grip and got out of the car.
Don swore under his breath and jumped out of the driver's side. "Two shots were fired tonight! One of those bullets was meant for Jo, wasn't it?! . . . Kye?!" Don swore again as he watched Kye get in his car and drive away.
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Jo paced anxiously around the apartment. What the hell am I doing? She sighed heavily and collapsed back on the couch. She shouldn't have shared anything with him about this case.
She'd been so strong, carrying it alone for so many years, but she'd lost Seth tonight, she'd become an emotional wreck and the only man she'd ever really trusted, ever really loved, he was there for her. He'd believed her. Of course he'd believed her.
The smile slowly faded from her face.
At least she'd stopped herself blurting anything else out and she'd finally managed to get him to leave.
Tears filled her eyes. "I never wanted you to go Mac."
She glanced across at the clock on the wall. It was half past midnight. She swallowed back the heartache and forced herself to focus. Alex Cole's face flashed into her mind and rage slammed her chest. "It's time to end this." She forced herself to take a steady breath, then rose from the couch and went to her bedroom to start packing.
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For several months Christine had been fine with the fact that Mac and Jo had a platonic friendship. It hadn't worried her at all. She could accept that Jo spent more time with him then she did. Mac's work meant a lot to him and Jo was his second in command after all.
But tonight, everything had changed.
Mac had returned thirty minutes ago and had told her he'd been at Jo's place.
It was past midnight. What was he doing at Jo's place this late at night?
And then he'd started acting cagey and he definitely wasn't telling her everything.
What was she suppose to think for God sake?
She stood in the centre of the room and stared suspiciously at him. "Why won't you tell me why you were at Jo's place?"
Mac muttered under his breath. He grabbed the mug from the cupboard and nearly ended up slamming it on the kitchen counter. "I've told you already."
Christine moved quicky across the room to the breakfast bar. "You've told me you were with her discussing a case."
Mac turned back to face her. "Look, you know I can't always talk about work. And this case is. . . classified."
"Why couldn't it wait till morning."
"We had to go through some details on the case."
"At midnight?"
"Look, something bad happened tonight. She . . . needed a friend. She was upset."
Christine sighed inwardly and looked away. "Is she okay?"
Mac leaned against the breakfast bar. "She'll be fine."
Suddenly Christine smelt a light scent in the air. She leaned towards him and inhaled deeply. There it was. That perfume smell again. Jo's perfume. Her heart sunk to her stomach. "You comforted her right?"
He cursed inwardly and turned his back on her. God I need something stronger. He walked to the fridge to find a beer instead. "Jo was upset. Of course I comforted her." He grabbed the bottle and walked out of the kitchen. "C'mon. We'll wind down with a movie. What do you want to watch?"
"Mac. We haven't finished talking yet."
He spun around and stared exasperatedly at her. "About what exactly?"
"How deeply do you care about her?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"
Christine fixed him with a steady gaze. "You heard me."
He drew in a long, unsteady breath, let it out. "She's a close friend to me. You know that."
Christine kept her eyes on his. "I thought I did."
Mac shook his head and glanced away. "I'm not talking about this tonight."
"Why? Because you're afraid to face the truth?"
Slowly he met her gaze. "I have . . . no idea what you're talking about?"
Tears stung her eyes. "Yes you do."
Suddenly, Mac's phone started to ring in his pocket.
"You better get that. Jo might need you again." She spun around and walked quickly out of the room.
Mac went after her. "Christine wait! You've got this all wrong!"
She slammed the bedroom door in his face.
"Dammit!" He muttered a curse and grabbed the phone from his pocket. "It's not Jo calling me! It's Don! . . . Christine?!" He released a long, heavy breath, headed back to the main room and brought the phone to his ear. "What the hell is it Don?!"
Don raised his eyebrows and looked down at his phone. "Uh . . . You okay?"
Mac forced himself to calm down. "Yea. I'm fine . . ." He stopped dead in his tracks and stared back down at his phone. "Did Kye turn up?"
"Yea he did." Don drew to a stop along the side walk. "He photocopied some documents." He looked down at the files on the passenger seat and sighed heavily. "Mac. This case is huge."
Mac glanced back at Christine's bedroom door. "I need to see those documents now. Where are you?"
Don glanced up at the apartment building. "I'm outside Jo's place."
Fear slammed through his chest. "Is she okay?"
Don muttered under his breath. "I . . . just wanted to check on her, that's all."
Mac grabbed his jacket from the chair. "What the hell did Kye tell you about Jo?" He came to an abrupt stop when he saw Christine leaning against the door.
"Look I just wanted to make sure . . . " Don stopped mid – sentence when he heard Christine on the other end.
"So you're off to see Jo again!" She said furiously.
Mac let out an exasperated breath. "For God sake Christine. I'm meeting Don!"
"Don't bother coming back this time!" She whirled around, walked quickly back into her room and slammed the door behind her.
Mac muttered several obscenities under his breath and pressed the phone back to his ear. "I'm on my way."
Don raised his eyebrows. "You sure everything's okay?"
Mac rolled his eyes at the phone. "Yes Don. Everything's fine." He walked out of Christine's apartment and slammed the door behind him. "I'll be with you in five minutes." He hung up and hurried out of the building to his car.
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Don stared down at the phone. Dammit. He knew it wouldn't take long for Christine to figure it out. It was so bloody obvious they were in love with each other. The only people that didn't have a clue were Mac and Jo themselves.
Don looked back up at her apartment. All the lights were off. She'll be asleep. I'm not gonna charge up there and wake her now, Not after what she's been through. He sighed heavily, grabbed the case file and started flicking through it again.
Several minutes later he was distracted by the sound of a vehicle braking heavily behind him.
Mac turned off the car engine and quickly exited his vehicle. He jogged up to Don's car, wrenched open the door and jumped in the passenger seat. "Okay. What did Kye tell you?"
Don let out a long, pent up breath and started filling Mac in on everything Kye had said to him.
Several minutes later, Mac was looking as white as a sheet. Don cursed inwardly. He had left the worst bit to last. Maybe he should have got that over with at the beginning.
Mac glanced fearfully up at her apartment. "My God. She's right in the middle of this. We need to talk to Kye again."
"He adamantly refused to discuss this case any further Mac." Don glanced back at him. "Look he shared something else with me."
Mac slowly met his anxious gaze. "For God sake tell me?"
"Okay. . . Jo . . . lied to the FBI about how long she'd known Seth. She told Kye that she met him whilst out with friends in 2005."
Mac's eyes widened. "I asked her that same question earlier and she said she grew up with him in Alabama."
"Well she was telling you the truth." Don replied.
Mac swallowed hard. "My God. Why did she lie to the FBI about this?"
"Kye found out that Seth's Birth Certificate had been falsified. He had the surname 'Turner' on his Driving Licence, Social Security Card and Bank Account." Don cursed inwardly. "Kye was holding back information from me, but what he did say, was that this morning he discovered Seth's real surname was . . . Cole."
Mac stared anxiously at Don. "Are you telling me that Seth Is Alex Cole's Son?"
"According to Kye, Yes." Don stared back out the front windscreen. "He's handing this information to Russ first thing in the morning Mac."
"Ah crap." Mac's eyes flashed back at Jo's apartment building. "Wait here. I have to talk to Jo." He jumped out of Don's car and moved quickly up to the front entrance. He buzzed on the intercom and waited. There was no answer. He buzzed again. "Dammit Jo. C'mon." A moment later she still hadn't answered it. He buzzed on Bretts number.
Finally Brett answered. "Who the hell is this?"
"It's Mac."
He frowned. "Mac Taylor?"
Brett let me in now. It's urgent!"
He raised his eyebrows. "Uh . . . sure." He quickly pressed the button.
Mac pulled open the main doors and ran across the lobby. He took the stairs two at a time, finally reached Jo's floor and raced along the coridor to her apartment. He moved quickly to her door and knocked loudly several times, but she still wasn't answering. Fear and panic gripped his heart. "Jo! It's me! Let me in!" He wasn't waiting any longer. He grabbed her keys from his pocket and let himself in.
The place was quiet, too quiet. He moved quickly through the main room and noticed that her bedroom door was open. He quickened his pace toward it and bolted inside. The room was empty. Next he searched her bathroom and the guest room. There was still no sign of her.
Office! She's got to be in her Office! He tore back down the hallway and checked the last room. He slammed to a stop and stared wide eyed across at her desk. His heart dropped to his stomach when he noticed that not only was her I pad and Laptop missing. Her computer was gone too. "Oh God Jo. No." He raced out of her office and charged back into her bedroom. He pulled open her drawers and discovered that most of her clothes were missing. He moved to her wardrobe and pulled open the doors. So was her rucksack and case. "Jo. What are you doing?"
"I found this."
Mac whirled around and saw Don standing in the door way holding out an envelope. It was on the kitchen counter."
Mac walked quickly toward him and snatched it out of Don's hand. He tore open the envelope and pulled out the note.
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Mac.
I have to go away.
I have to finish this once and for all and I don't think I'm going to be able to come back.
The FBI are going to know the truth soon enough and I can't be here when they find out.
I'm sorry for everything.
Please don't search for me.
I need you to move on with your life.
I need you to be happy.
P.S I love you.
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LOL! HOW CAN MAC POSSIBLY MOVE ON WHEN SHE'S WRITTEN IN A NOTE THAT SHE LOVES HIM.
NEXT CHAPTER THE WHOLE CSI TEAM FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENED.
RUSS TURNS UP. WHAT'S MAC AND DON GONNA SAY. HOW ARE THEY GONNA PROTECT HER.
ANOTHER SCENE WITH MAC AND CHRISTINE.
AND WE WILL HAVE SOME ALEX COLE AND FAMILY SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED.