Chapter 3

They saw him swerve once more when he got too close to Ryan's hummer in front and they witnessed the entire hummer tumble onto its side and begin to roll. Both Horatio's and Zoë's eyes widened when they saw it happen and they knew what the message meant.

"I was supposed to be in there…" Zoë whispered to herself as her mouth fell open.

"Pull over!" Zoë yelled as she pulled her belt off and jumped through the gap in the seats.

"Zoë! I'm driving! Sit down!" Horatio said startled, she then reached into the boot and hauled her first aid kit onto her lap. Horatio pulled over just behind the hummer Eric was in and jumped out and opened the door for Zoë as she jumped out and slammed it shut.

"Eric! Eric you're alright!" Zoë yelled as Ryan pulled over. Horatio was already on the radio to dispatch, ordering an ambulance, fire & rescue and patrol officers. He looked over at the hummer which had landed on its roof, upside down and swallowed.

"Eric, help is on the way!" Horatio yelled as he ran over as Zoë did a quick scout around the hummer and found the only safe way of entering the hummer was through the window on the passenger side. She fell to her knees and pulled on some gloves and looked in through the window.

"Eric, can you hear me?" She questioned, looking at him.

"Eric, answer me if you can hear me." Zoë called loudly and then sat up when she didn't get a response from him.

Zoë placed her hands on the roof of the car and began to crawl in.

"Zoë! It's dangerous, you can't go in there." Horatio said loudly as Ryan ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't leave him, Horatio!" Zoë snapped as she managed to get into the hummer and sat on the roof as she kicked off her heels and threw them out. She pulled the bag in after her.

"Be careful, Zoë." Horatio pleaded.

"I am." She called from in the hummer.

They could hear her talking to Eric, but couldn't hear a response from him but her voice was quickly covered by the sound of sirens as patrol cars got nearer and then pulled up, with their lights going as they silenced the sirens.

They listen to Zoë and finally heard a response from Eric as she checked him over and explained what fire & rescue would do to get him out.

"I can get out myself, I don't hurt anywhere." Eric explained softly.

"Yes, that may be so, but if you try to get yourself out of that seat, you could hurt yourself, especially if you land on your head… you are upside down, Eric." Zoë said softly giving him a small smile.

"Thank God you had your seat-belt on." Zoë said as she held some gauze against a small scrape on his head.

"The hummer wouldn't brake, it must have been sabotaged." Eric said looking at her.

"Yeah, I think Ron Saris was behind it." She said softly.

"It wouldn't surprise me, but why would you think that?" He questioned.

"He's been following me, then just before you crashed, Horatio got a text suggesting that 'it was going to be my last ride', you then crashed so it's very suspicious." Zoë said softly as she heard some men approach.

"That must be fire & rescue, I'll have to get out when they get you out, but you'll be okay, they know what they're doing." Zoë said softly and Eric nodded at her.

"Ma'am, could you please exit the vehicle." A man's voice called as he looked through the window she had climbed through.

"I'll be right out." She called.

"Just stay calm, we'll see you in a moment." She said as she took hold of his hand and placed it over the gauze that was on his head. She scrambled out of the car and Horatio helped her up as she dragged the bag out.

"Are you okay?" He questioned.

"Yeah, Eric's fine as well, he's just got a few scrapes and bruises. It's a bloody miracle that he's not seriously hurt or dead." Zoë said softly and Horatio gave her a nod.

"Where's my shoes?" She asked softly, looking down.

"I put them there." Horatio said as he pointed over to his hummer, he then realised that there was glass everywhere.

"Don't move, I'll get them" Horatio said and she nodded at him. He passed her the shoes and she put them on and made sure Eric was okay as they got him out safely. They finally got him out and he walked over to Horatio, Ryan, Zoë and Walter.

"Thank you, Zoë." Eric said softly.

"Not a problem honey." She said with a smile.

"Thank you" Eric said as he looked over at Horatio and he gave him a nod.

"What did the paramedics say?" Zoë questioned.

"They cleared me." Eric said softly and Zoë nodded at him.

"Are you feeling up to working?" Horatio questioned.

"Yeah, I've only got cuts and bruises." Eric said softly and Horatio nodded.

"You'll have to ride with either me or Mr Wolfe in that case" Eric nodded at him. Horatio turned around and placed his hand on Zoë's back as they walked back to the hummer as Horatio pulled his phone out and rang to get the broken hummer back to the lab so they could investigate. They carried on to the crime scene and closed the case that day and got onto the case of the hummer.

"Was Eric's hummer sabotaged too?" Zoë questioned Ryan.

"No, the battery was dead, it just needed replacing." Ryan said and Zoë nodded at him as Horatio walked through to the lab.

"Have we got anything?" He questioned.

"No, we've got nothing, we can't tie Saris to this at all." Zoë said as she put her hands on her hips. Horatio nodded at her.

"Zoë, can I have a word please?" Horatio asked and she nodded as she walked out with him. They walked through into Horatio's office and Horatio closed the door.

"We'll get him, there's no need to worry." Zoë said, trying to calm Horatio. She could see that he was terrified, she knew he was worrying about her. Horatio nodded at her and then his phone bleeped at him. He pulled it out and it was from another number.

"I will get her, she's your weakness. She will be mine, I'll keep you alive just long enough to see it happen too. You'll have the privilege of watching me with her bound body, destroying her mentally, desecrating her perfect body. You'll have to watch her beg for you to save her, she'll be begging you to stop me. I've not quite figured out the rest, whether I'd kill her or keep her alive. If I kill her, you'll get to watch that before it's lights out for you too. If I don't kill her, I'll destroy her to the point where she'll take her own life just to end the misery. She won't have you to stop her either." Horatio swallowed.

"Is it another text from him?" Zoë asked and he nodded.

"Can I see?" She asked and he shook his head as he put his phone away.

"He's never going to hurt you, Zoë. I will die before he gets his hands on you. I promise you that." Horatio assured her, growing angry and scared.

"Horatio, don't worry. We'll get him. Try and calm down for me handsome." She said softly as she took hold of his hands. She saw the hurt in his eyes and she knew it wasn't a nice message. She could feel his hands trembling slightly and she knew he was absolutely petrified.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't get anywhere near you. He's never going to touch you, Zoë." Horatio said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"I know you will, just try not to panic, okay?" Zoë said softly. She felt him relax once she was in his arms. For once, he was the one that needed the hug for comfort. She knew he needed her to be there for him.

"It'll all be alright, Horatio." She tried to assure him. He swallowed and then kissed the side of her head and took in her scent when his phone bleeped at him again.

"Until next time, Caine. She'll be mine." He swallowed as he read the text behind her back and quickly put it back into his pocket and closed his eyes and hugged her tighter.

"I promise you Zoë, he won't hurt you." He whispered into her ear.

The End

Thank you for reading and to those who've reviewed, the next story is called Desperate Times Calls for Desperate Measures.