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I LOVED WRITING THIS CHAPTER. THIS IS A LONG ONE FOR ME- IT'S 5000 WORDS LONG. LET'S HOPE YOU ALL LIKE READING IT. ;)

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What happened at the end of the previous chapter.

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The sweat beaded the back of Mac's neck and fear fed the Icy chill shivering down his spine.

'She's not dead down here!. . . She's not dead. . . she's not dead.' He echoed the words again and again in his head in an attempt to chase the horrific images from his mind, as he descended the steps into the darkness.

Breathing hard he reached the bottom and shone the flashlight into the basement.

It was empty.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. He moved quickly towards it, shakily pulled out a latex glove and picked it up. His heart stalled in his chest. It was a piece of material off Jo's shirt.

Mac dragged a shaking hand through his hair and shone the flashlight around the room once again.

He froze instantly and terror radiated through him in undulated waves. "No!" He stumbled to the edge of the room and looked closer. 'Blood. . . My God. . . It's blood.'

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CHAPTER 11.

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It had been a long, hard day.

Adam and Sheldon were left back in Crotona Park collecting the rest of the evidence, Whilst Danny and Lindsay headed over to Ridgefield to help Mac.

Mac called in extra help, but there was such a large expanse of area to cover, it took them until late evening before they finally finished up in both locations. They didn't make it back to the CSI Department until after dark.

They were all exhausted but refused to go home. Danny and Lindsay found a babysitter to stay and take care of Lucy, and Sheldon called to cancel his night out with Camille.

Mac had been processing the evidence for several hours before he finally gave into Lindsay's pleas and left the lab for a break.

He came to an abrupt stop down the corridor when he glanced down at his watch. Crap! It's 02:00 already? He was dead on his feet and his ribs hurt like hell, but the thought of Jo being alone, scared, injured or worse brought fear clawing through his heart once again. My God. I can't rest until I've found her. He quickened his pace passed the staff room and headed to his office instead.

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Layton walked out of the apartment building and jogged across the road to Don. "The neighbors are saying they haven't seen him. Silvia Pemberton who lives in 3a, told me Colin's hardly been here in the last month and Larry Greeves who lives nextdoor, says Colin's so quiet he hardly notices him when he is here. Apparently all seven residents haven't seen him for a couple of days."

"So where the hell is he then?!" Don shouted angrily. Dammit! He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Okay. Layton, I need you and your team to head back to the station and find out everything you can on this Colin Smith. We need a fresh lead."

"We're on it. We'll find him Don."

He sighed heavily. "Yea."

As Don watched Layton and the team head back to their cars, his phone started ringing in his Jacket pocket. He brought it out and pressed it to his ear. "Flack here."

"You got any information back from A.T.C yet?" Mac asked urgently.

Don pushed out a heavy breath and started pacing. "No. The Security Tracking Center checked the radar. There were no signs of choppers going up in that area this afternoon."

"Dammit! They were flying below the radar."

"Yea they were."

Mac tightened his grip on his phone. "What about the A.D. S. B. System. That should have picked them up right?"

"The system went down around 14:00 Mac."

He closed his eyes and collapsed into the seat behind him. "My God. Alex Cole disabled the satellite system?"

"It seems that way." Don sighed. "Look Mac. We're round Colin Smith's apartment. Everything's here. His clothes, toothbrush etc, but we've been asking around and I don't think he's been back since you dragged him here looking for the box the other day. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"Don. I told you already. I don't know, but your wasting your time over there. He's not gonna return to . . ." Mac stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Colin standing in his doorway.

Don frowned down at his phone. "Mac. You still there?"

Grim faced, Colin walked into Mac's Office and dumped a black leather holdall on his desk. "I thought if I found it, Jo would stop searching and she would be safe. I guess I was too late." He turned around and started to head back out of his office.

Mac jumped to his feet and grabbed his gun from the drawer.

Don started to walk back to his car, the unease now crawling up his spine. "Mac. You okay? . . . Mac!"

Mac raised his voice own the phone. "Colin Smith! I'll shoot you in the arm if you take another step! You're not getting away from me this time!"

Crap! Don whirled around and glanced quickly across the road. "Martin! Colin's turned up at the CSI Department! Mac's got him!" He shouted.

Martin Howell spun around and stared wide eyed at Don who was now diving into his car. Martin swore under his breath and started running towards his own vehicle.

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Mac circled his desk, moved cautiously around Colin and shut his door, not taking his eyes off him for a second. "Sit down now!"

Colin glared at Mac, then moving to the chair and slumped down into it.

Mac stayed where he was and continued to stare furiously across at him. "What the hell are you playing at?!"

"I'm trying to help!"

"Help? Don't you think we've got enough on our hands finding Alex Cole without having to chase after your scrawny ass?!"

Colin jumped to his feet. "Hey. You should be thanking me! Gulliver and those other bastards would have it by now, if I hadn't have . . ."

"Wait. . . You have the vase?"

Colin leaned back in the chair and and exhaled sharply. "It's in the bag."

"For God sake Colin." Mac moved quickly to the desk, yanked on a pair of latex gloves and unzipped the holdall. When he looked inside his breath stalled in his throat. This can't be . . . He carefully reached in, brought the vase out of the bag and set it on the table. For several seconds he just stared across at it, totally gob smacked. Finally he managed to tear his eyes from the vase and slowly turned back to Colin. "You better start talking, because right now I have a gun in my hand and I'm rapidly losing my patience with you."

Colin released a long, weary breath. "Okay. This is what I know. The vase belonged to James Carter."

Mac's eyes widened as he stared back at the vase. He still couldn't get over the fact that something so valuable was sitting on his desk. "Jo's father was a rich man."

"Jo's grandfather was a rich man. When he died, he left all his wealth to James.

"Alex got nothing?"

"Not a penny. I don't know exactly what this vase is worth but it looks pretty pricey."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Colin. You've been carrying around a piece of Chinese pottery from the Meiyintang Collection."

"The Meiyintang Collection?" Slowly he rose out of the chair and stared at the vase in disbelief. "My God." he whispered shakily. "Isn't that worth like. . ."

"That vase sitting there is worth something around $2 Million!" Mac interrupted exasperatedly.

Colin collapsed back in the seat. "Oh God. No wonder Alex is going crazy trying to get it back."

Mac crossed his arms and leaned back against his desk. "So Alex Cole stole the vase from his brother."

"Yes, but I didn't know it was worth this much."

"How do you know all this?"

Colin looked away. "I just . . . know."

"How do you know Colin!"

Colin jumped out of his seat. "You can't hold me here." He started for the door.

Mac circled around his desk and slammed Colin up against the glass panelling. "TELL ME NOW!"

"I'm a hacker Okay! I can. . . break into any security network and I'm damn good at it!"

"Keep going!" Mac growled.

"I . . . discovered a case file when I was 19. It had information about a robbery that happened at James Carter's home in 1963. I worked out the dates. I think James might have got married to Jo's mother that year."

Mac released him and took a step back. "What year did you find this case file?"

"1981."

"1981?"

"Yea." Colin sighed heavily. "It was a long time ago."

Mac took a deep, steady breath. "What did you find out?"

"James Carter lost everything, including that vase sitting on your desk. The FEDS didn't discover who committed the crime, but obviously it had to be Alex Cole. . . I . . . got out of my Apartment before they could catch me." Colin met Mac's intense gaze. "I covered my tracks well. Lay low for a couple of weeks, then tried to hack the system again, but the case file was gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"It had disappeared Mac. Someone had got rid of the file."

Mac frowned down at him when he saw the raw emotions flickering in Colin's eyes. "I know when someone's holding back secrets. I'm a detective. You've seen the news. You know Jo's life is in danger right?"

Colin swallowed hard and looked away.

"I know you care about her, but you've gone to an awful lot of trouble to help her and Seth . . ."

"The only way I was helping Jo and Seth was by not telling them a damn thing." Colin glanced away. "I couldn't tell Jo what I'd discovered. It would break her heart."

"So, she knows nothing about the robbery?" Mac asked incredulously.

"If I've got the dates right, She was born in May 1965. Two years after this happened right?"

Mac sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. "Yea. That's right. . . So getting back to the question. Why are you so focused on hunting Alex Cole down?"

Colin blinked back the tears and took a deep, unsteady breath. "Alex didn't just rape Jo's mother . . ."

Mac's heart froze in his chest. "What?"

Slowly he met Mac's gaze. "Alex raped a lot of women . . . Miranda Baxter was one of them . . . She had a son. . . She named him . . . Colin Baxter."

Mac's eyes widened. "You're . . . Colin Baxter."

"Yea."

Does Jo know?"

Colin stared across at Mac and shook his head.

God. I can't believe what i'm hearing here. Mac dragged an unsteady hand through his hair and started pacing around his office.

Colin stared off into space as the memories flashed through his mind. "I grew up in a run down apartment in Harper Street, Washington. When I was twelve my Aunt came by the apartment. My mother was comatosed on the sofa as she always was that time of day, completely drunk."

Mac slowed to a stop and turned back to him.

"My Aunt was so mad, she ranted that it was my mother's fault that she was lying there so weak, stupid, half dead. Then she started shouting at her. She said 'If you hadn't of chosen to live on the streets as a prostitute you would never have met that bastard Alex Cole and ended up in this mess now.' Colin gazed back at Mac. It was something along those lines anyway. Colin swallowed back the grief and continued. "I asked her who Alex Cole was? She went very quiet, then walked out leaving me alone. I never saw her again. A couple of months later, my mother died of a drug overdose. My Aunt had disappeared and there was no one else to take care of me, so I was put in foster care. I never forgot what my Aunt blurted out that day. Two years later I escaped from the foster home and set out finding Alex Cole, hoping my Aunt had just lied and I'd find a good man. A dad that loved me. God I was so damn naieve."

"There's nothing wrong with hope Colin. We all need hope. And there's nothing wrong with going out and searching for the truth either."

Colin shook his head. "No. I wish I'd never started searching for that bastard." A tear circled his eyelid. He swiped it away quickly and took a shaky breath. "I didn't find his list until 1986."

Mac frowned. "What list?"

"I managed to hack into his private computer. He . . . he had a list of . . ." Colin swallowed back the nausea. "Look I can't . . . talk about this." He turned away.

Mac gently grasped his arm. " 've been carrying this alone for far too long. Say it. Get it out. You'll feel better."

He dragged a shaky hand through his hair. "He had a list of all the . . . women he'd raped. Jo's mother was on that list and he'd . . . kept scores on their appearance, physical . . . attributes, how well they . . . performed . . ."

That was when Colin sunk to the floor. When he buried his head in his hands and screamed so loudly, it had the CSI Team running down the corridor toward Mac's office.

Mac heard their footsteps and whirled around quickly.

Danny went to grab the door handle, but Mac shot him a warning look and signalled for him to stay where he was.

Lindsay's heart continued to pound loudly in her ears as she gazed anxiously through the glass at the guy in the corner of the room. Who is that?

"God. I thought that was Mac I heard scream out." Sheldon said breathlessly

"Nope. It's the dude on the floor."

Sheldon rolled his eyes at him. "I know that now Adam."

"Anyone recognise him?" Adam asked as he continued to glance down at him.

"No. . . Er guys? . . There seems to be a large vase sitting on Mac's desk. That wouldn't by any chance be the one that went missing at the Gallery would it?" Danny asked curiously.

All eyes flashed to the desk.

Lindsay gasped. "Oh my God. It has to be."

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Mac dropped to his knees next to Colin and laid a hand on his shoulder as he continued to struggle with his own tangled emotions. "It's . . . okay."

"It's not okay Mac!" He shouted angrily.

Mac quickly got to his feet when Colin did and watched him as he started pacing wildly around the room.

"I got hold of a gun and tried to kill him!"

Mac's eyes widened. "When?"

"It was . . . 2005." Colin whirled back around to face him. "I followed Alex to a warehouse down Manor Street! He was alone! There was no one around! It was an easy shot!"

Breathing hard, Colin staggered back against the wall as the fury and despair continued to claw through his heart. "There I was carrying a gun around like my damn father! I bet he's great at hacking too huh?!" He swore loudly, turned back and buried his fist in the wall.

Mac started to move toward him. "Colin. You need to calm down. . ."

"I was finally standing less than ten feet from him! I had the damn gun pointed at his chest, but guess what?! I couldn't even bring myself to shoot the bastard! If I'd just done it. If i'd just pulled the bloody trigger than he wouldn't have Jo now! My God I'm pathetic. I'm such a worthless coward!"

Danny could hear the rage in Colin's voice and he stepped closer to the door. "I'm not too comfortable with the fact that Mac's in there alone with this guy. He's losing it in there. He could lash out at Mac any second. He could be armed for all we know."

"I don't like it either." Lindsay replied nervously.

Danny opened Mac's door slightly and brought his hand to his weapon. "I'll be ready just in case."

Suddenly the elevator pinged, the doors slid open and Don came charging into the Department with Martin Howell and four other Officers.

Adam spun around and motioned for him to stay quiet. "Mac wants us to wait here." Adam looked back in his office. "I think he's managing to calm this dude down now."

"Sonofabitch." Don grumbled as he stared angrily through the glass at Colin.

Lindsay moved in front of him. "You know who this guy is, don't you?"

"Yea. This is Colin Smith." Don muttered. Suddenly he saw it on Mac's desk. "Bloody hell. It's the vase."

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"Colin. Just take some deep breaths."

He leaned back against the wall and tried to calm down.

"Okay, firstly. You're nothing like him." My God. It was around 36 hours ago, I tried to reassure Jo with these exact same words. Mac swallowed into an aching throat and forced himself to continue. "Secondly, you learnt to become a hacker because you was desperate to find the truth. I'm gonna let that one go."

Slowly Colin met Mac's gaze.

"And thirdly. Not pulling that trigger doesn't demonstrate cowardice to me. Alex Cole may have done some bad things, but he's still your father. I also think that you couldn't kill him because you knew deep down it wasn't right. You're not a killer Colin, so I'll echo these words again You're nothing like your father."

Don leaned against the glass panelling and closed his eyes. My God. Alex Cole has another Son?. . .This is insane.

You could cut the tension with a knife as the whole team stared silently into the room at Mac and Colin.

Colin gazed up at Mac for a long, silent moment. "Jo really was right about you."

The sound of her name brought a deep, raw ache crushing Mac's heart. He said nothing and started to rise to his feet.

Colin grabbed his arm. "You love her don't you?"

Mac glanced down at him and released a long, heavy breath. "Yea. . . I do."

Colin nodded numbly and looked back at the vase. "I have no idea where he's taken her, but he can't be far. He wont leave without . . ."

"You're . . . in love with. . . Jo?"

Mac spun around and saw Don staring across the room at him in stunned shock.

Danny was standing next to Don clutching at the door handle, his eyes widening by the second.

Ah crap! Mac sighed inwardly as he glanced around at the rest of the team.

He narrowed his eyes at Adam and caught him gazing back at him with a concerned look on his was the only one who didn't seem surprised to hear the news.

'We'll get her back.' Adam mouthed. Mac watched him turn and walk quickly back up the corridor.

My God. Now they all know.

Colin watched the scene unfold before his eyes. Oh boy! He looked back at Mac, "Er . . .I guess . . . they didn't know you'd fallen for her?"

You think? Mac rolled his eyes and glanced back down at him."Just . . . get up."

Colin gripped Mac's hand and he pulled him to his feet. Suddenly he caught sight of Martin Howell talking on his phone out in the corridor. "You sonofabitch!" Enraged, he knocked Mac out of the way with surprising strength and bolted towards the door, but he got no where close enough to throw a punch at him. Don and Danny were still standing right at the door and they grabbed Colin as he tried to barge passed them. He struggled to get free of their grip. "Get off me! . . . Let me at him!"

"For God sake Colin calm down will ya?" Don muttered, as he gripped him tighter.

Colin stared furiously across at Martin. "You closed the fucking case didn't ya! Why was that huh? You're working for Alex Cole right?!" His head whipped back at Mac. "We can't trust him! You have to arrest him. Arrest him now!"

Mac moved quickly toward him and pointed through the glass panelling at Martin Howell. "You don't think he did enough to find Alex Cole back in 2007 right? You're angry he closed the case, Angry that he didn't listen to Jo. I get that. I am too. But Martin Howell is not a corrupt Agent. He's just made some wrong decisions like we all do at some point in our lives. If we start working together, we'll find Jo a lot quicker, so let's just get on with it. I need you to let these Officer's take you down to the station. You have to answer all their questions . . ." Mac stopped talking. Colin was continuing to stare angrily at Martin Howell. He released a long, exasperated breath. "Colin!"

He tore his eyes from Martin and met Mac's stern gaze. "Al right fine. I'll tell the Police what I know." he muttered.

Lindsay, Danny and Sheldon exchanged bewildering glances and quickly walked back to the lab.

Mac handed Colin a card with his address and cell phone number on it. "If you need anything, call me."

"I'm quite capable of taking care of myself Mac." Colin answered.

He did a mental eye roll and continued to hold the card in front of Colin. "Just take it."

Colin paused for a long moment as he stared down at the card in Mac's hand. Finally he reached out and took it. "Thanks."

Don glanced around to Layton. "I need you to take him. I'm staying until that vase is out of here."

Layton nodded and moved towards Colin. "Let's go."

Mac watched them walk out into the corridor. "Colin?"

He looked back at Mac.

"Stay away from this case, you hear me?"

Colin turned and shot him a stubborn look, before stepping into the elevator.

Mac cursed inwardly as Colin disappeared behind the elevator doors. He shook his head and wearily wandered back into his office slamming the door behind him.

Don pushed out a long, pent up breath and walked up to Martin.

"I'm on my way." Martin hung up and dropped his phone back in his jacket pocket. "The Assistant Director is demanding that I see him now. No doubt I'll be suspended for defying his orders." He released a long, pent up breath and started pacing. "Sam went round to break the news to Rowan's parents. As you can imagine they're distraught. I'll need to head over there too. My God. What a day this is turning out to be." he sighed.

"I'm sorry it came to this." Don replied quietly, as he glanced back into Mac's office.

Martin sighed heavily. "Me too. . . I am however relieved to say that the Assistant Director doesn't want the vase coming back to the FBI Department just yet. Apparently its pandemonium over there at the moment. He's talked to the Chief and they've agreed that Reed Fisher will take it off your hands."

Don stared sternly back at Martin. "And who the hell's he?"

"Someone you can trust Don. We're working together here, remember? Mac's words."

Don muttered under his breath. "Okay, so when is he gonna grace us with his presence?"

"He'll be here in the next few minutes." Martin answered. "He's gonna take the vase to the Precinct, where he'll meet the Chief. He'll lock it in one of the safes downstairs. Reed will be working with 14 Special Agents from the Art Crime Team. They're leaving Washington as we speak and should turn up at the precinct in the next few hours. I have to take off." Martin turned and walked away from Don. He came to an abrupt stop at the elevator and paused for several seconds. "Don? When you find Jo. . . tell her . . . I'm sorry."

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Mac was behind his desk staring at the vase when Don walked in a few minutes later and sat down in the chair opposite him.

"You okay?"

Mac said nothing.

"Look Mac. We're gonna find her. . ."

"Don't say it Don." In a fit of uncontrollable rage, Mac slammed his fists onto the desk. "Don't you dare say it! I'm sick of those damn words!"

Don raised his hands. "Okay . . . I'm not going to. . ." He stopped mid-sentence. "Crap!" He jumped out of the seat and grabbed the wobbling vase. "Okay. Maybe we should . . . just put this down here." he suggested, as he lowered it carefully to the floor.

Mac muttered under his breath, got quickly to his feet and strode across to the window.

Several tense moments stretched between them, before Don dared to speak up again. "Reed Fisher should be here soon. He's gonna take the vase back to the precinct. Some Agents from the Art Crime Team are on their way here from Washington to help him."

Mac glanced back down at the vase. "According to Colin. Alex stole this vase from Jo's father."

Don's eyes flashed across at Mac. "This. . . vase belonged to . . . Jo's father?"

"Yea."

"Do you think Jo knows that her father owned an item this valuable? That it got stolen?. . ."

"I don't know." Mac sighed.

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Alex unlocked the heavy door and walked along the dark, damp hallway to the cell.

Jo staggered to her feet when she heard his footsteps. She swallowed back the fear, breathed in a breath for courage and met his icy glare as he came to a stop at the bars. "Comfy?"

"You've made a terrible mistake Alex."

He smiled menacingly at her. "No . . . I don't think I have."

"You're a fool. When the FBI catch up with you . . ."

"Don't waste your breath Jo!" He interrupted angrily. "They have no idea where we are. They'll never find us here."

"You can't hide forever. They'll continue to hunt you down until they find you. You'll lose in the end." Jo fixed him with a defiant glare. "I'm not gonna help you, so you might as well kill me now."

Alex roared with laughter. "I have no intention of killing you. My whole plan hinges on you being very much alive."

She swallowed into a dry throat and forced herself to stay calm. "So you can ransom me for your freedom? That plan will fail."

"I don't agree Jo. Mac, Don, the rest of the CSI Team. They care a great deal for you, . . . especially Mac. . ."

Jo's breath caught in her throat.

"And as for those idiots in the FBI. I thing quite a lot of them will be feeling rather guilty right now. . ."

She moved quickly toward him and gripped the bars. "They won't let their emotions get in the way of the Job Alex! Just let me go. Turn yourself in!"

Rage ignited like a fireball and he lunged for her. Jo jerked back, but not fast enough as his hand shot through the bars and gripped her arm.

He squeezed and smiled maliciously as he watched her grimace in pain.

"They'll . . . never. . . listen to you." She stammered. "and there's nothing . . . you can . . . do to bend me. . . to your will."

He pulled her up to the bars and glared down at her. "I wouldn't be so sure about that Jo. You say you won't break but you will. They all do in the end. I'll keep you locked up here until you finally submit to me. Then you'll do everything I say. You will be a lot of use to me and it will be nice to make this a family business."

Her eyes widened. "My God. You really are out of your mind if you think that. . ."

"SHUT UP!" He roared.

She froze to the spot.

He smiled. "You'll break in time. . ."

She cursed inwardly and tried to swallowed back the fear once again. Tried to pull her mind back together.

". . .But first, I'm gonna get that vase back Jo and I'm gonna use you to do it."

Her eyes flashed back at his. All fear evaporated and rage tore through her heart. "I'll die before I ever let you get your hands on my grandfathers vase!"

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Oh My Goodness. JO DID know about the vase.

The CSI Team find a lead in the next chapter, so do not despair.