HELLO. I'M BACK AGAIN WITH ANOTHER STORY LOL!
HMMM! I WONDER HOW THIS ONE IS GOING TO TURN OUT?
ANYWAY HERE GOES :)
PLEASE R&R :)
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- RAISING THE PAST. -
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- CHAPTER 1. -
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Jo tapped on Mac's door.
He looked up, smiled and waved her in.
She walked into his office and dropped the case file on his desk. "There you go."
Mac raised his eyebrows at her. "You've finished it already?"
"I didn't have much to write up. Danny did most of it." She sat down in the chair opposite his desk and sighed. "It's been a busy day."
"Yea it has." He glanced across at her. " look tired. Go home."
She gazed down at her watch. It was nearly 21:00. "You should be getting home too. You were at a crime scene at five this morning remember?"
He looked back down at his notes. "I'll head out of here when I've completed this."
She leaned across his desk. "What are doing?"
"I need to check the physical evidence report from the Luis Edwards case and get it to the D.A's office." He answered.
"Mac. That doesn't have to be in until Tuesday."
He gazed back at her. "I know, but Christine isn't closing the restaurant until 22:00, so I might aswell hang around here for another hour and finish this."
"Oh . . . Okay." She leaned back in the seat, her smile fading ever so slightly. "So . . . Are you two going out tonight?"
"No. We're staying in." He glanced back at her. "Are you going straight home?"
She kept her eyes steady on his. "I'm . . . swinging by a friends house."
Don had told Mac that he and two Officers had spotted her along Upper West Side driving along Columbus Avenue in her car late Monday and Wednesday night. Could she be dating someone? Mac was suddenly shocked at the sudden rush of emotions that accompanied that thought. He gazed back at her. I'm protective of her. There's nothing wrong with that. We're close friends. "So . . Who are you visiting tonight? Someone I know?"
She held his gaze for a couple of seconds, then broke eye contact. "Uh. . . no, he isn't" She started to rise out of the chair.
Mac got quickly to his feet. He?. . . My God. She's actually seeing . . . a guy? At first he couldn't quite figure out the intense emotion that slammed through him. He just didn't understand it. He couldn't remember ever feeling so riled up, agitated . . . or bitter about something like this. . . It suddenly hit him like a bolt out of the blue. Jealous? How the hell can I be Jealous?!
Jo whirled back around and met Mac's intense gaze. She frowned. "You okay?"
Quickly, he plastered on a smile. "Yea. . . Have a good evening."
"You too." She turned away, let out a heavy breath and walked quickly out of his office. For God sake Jo. Just move on.
Mac watched her disappear down the corridor. He stood there for several moments, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, but he could come up with no feasible explanation. He tried to get back to work, but he couldn't seem to shake these insane feelings from his mind.
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21:30.
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Seth Turner leaned forward in his seat and checked the web site again. He still had no answers. Dammit! He leaned back in his seat and kicked the desk. Where the hell do I go from here?
He heard a knock on the door and rose anxiously out of his seat. Who the hell could that be? He turned off the laptop, then opened up the side drawer and pulled out his gun.
Jo knocked again. "Seth. I know you're in there."
Seth released a long, relieved breath and swore inwardly. "Great." He whispered.
Jo jammed her hands in her pockets and turned back to the front door. "Colin called me Seth. He's worried about you. Please. Just let me in."
He pushed the gun into his back pocket and moved quickly toward the front door. He took a deep steady breath, unlocked it and swung it open. "Hey. I was uh . . . in the bathroom. Sorry about that." He shifted his eyes out across the quiet street.
He was nervous, on edge and this didn't go unnoticed by Jo.
Quickly he glanced back at her. "Look. I'm working from home right now and I'm really busy, and as for Colin, I have no idea why he could possibly be worried about me. I'm absolutely fine."
She smiled. "Good. Now let me in. I need a coffee."
"I'm busy Jo."
She sighed inwardly. "Just give me fifteen minutes. Then I'll go."
He brought his hands to his hips and stared down at her. "You haven't shown me your badge, so I'm not letting you in."
He went to close the door.
Jo slammed her foot in it. "Don't throw that at me Seth. I'm here as a friend and you know it."
Seth stared through the gap at her for a long moment. He muttered under his breath. "Fine. Fifteen minutes." He opened the door, ushered her in and glanced back down the street, before locking the door behind him.
Jo followed him into the kitchen and watched him as he filled the kettle. "So. . . How's work going?"
"Good. My little business empire is growing." He smiled back at her. "I might be able to buy you a Ferrari in . . . hmm, lets think . . . five, ten years?"
She chuckled. "You'll get there. Your alarm systems are decently priced."
"Yea. We're doing well with sales."
She gazed around the room and frowned. "How many alarm systems have you got wired up around this house anyway?"
Seths smile faded. "I'm carrying out a test on our latest model." He murmured quietly.
Jo turned back and met his gaze.
He moved quickly back to the counter and poured her a coffee. "So. How's life as a CSI Detective? I have to say it, when you retired from the FBI I was over the moon."
Jo heard the disdain in his voice. Why did he always have to do this when she came round. She sighed heavily and decided that it was probably best to let this go for now. "You know I'm loving the job." She leaned across the breakfast bar and sighed lightly. "The people I work with are . . . great." She looked back at Seth and inhaled sharply.
He chuckled as he turned back and placed the coffee next to her. "Who's the man?" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the shocked expression on her face. He laughed. "Jo. It's obvious with that dreamy sigh thing you've got going on there that clearly you've . . ."
"Okay stop!" She interrupted anxiously.
He frowned. "Calm down. I was just. . ."
"Calm down? Seth. You're carrying a gun around in your back pocket?"
He closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead. Of course she'll make it out over the baggy jumper. She's a detective you Idiot!
Jo moved quickly around the breakfast bar toward him. "You need to tell me what's going on."
He cursed inwardly. "Nothing going on Jo."
"I don't believe you. You're acting nervous, on edge. I can see it in your eyes." She pointed across the room. "You've got two extra locks on that door. They weren't there two weeks ago." She turned back to him. "And you've installed another alarm system."
Seth raised his voice at her."I have one alarm system installed Jo!"
"No you haven't."
He gripped her lower arm and started to lead her to the front door. "You need to leave."
She yanked herself free and gazed anxiously back at him. "Seth. You've cocooned yourself in here. Colin tells me you hardly leave the house now. Please. Just tell me what's going on. I can help."
Suddenly Seth saw movement at the window. His eyes widened.
Jo followed his gaze.
"Get down!" Seth pushed Jo to the ground just as a gun shot went off.
A split second later, another bullet crashed through the window and buried itself in the wall behind them. She heard footsteps hurrying away and she pushed herself to her feet, drew her gun from her holster and moved quickly around the room toward the window. She peeked outside. "Oh God." Her breaths were coming shallow and rapid, and the adrenaline was slamming through her system like a jack hammer. "Okay. . . They've taken off." She grabbed her phone from her pocket. "Seth." She looked back to the kitchen area. "Seth?!" Fear and Panic tightened her chest. She raced back around the breakfast bar and collapsed down beside him. "No! . . ." She yanked off her coat and pressed it to the bullet wound. "You have to stay with me! You hear me?"
Slowly he opened his eyes and grabbed her. "Jo. Find . . . .the . . box." His hand started to slip from her arm.
Box? What box! "We'll find it together! Seth. No don't close your eyes. Look at me!"
Tears stung her eyes, but she forced herself to hold it together as she shakily pressed down on her phone and called for an ambulance.
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21:45.
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Don drew to a stop outside 166 W88th Street and exited his vehicle. A couple of Officers had arrived several minutes ago and were already cordoning off the area. He walked over to Detective Gary Winters and looked up at the property. "Nice Place. What have we got?"
"It's a shooting." Gary turned to face him. "Two shots were fired around the side of the property. Male caucasian. A Seth Turner. 42 years of age. He's dead."
Don muttered under his breath and looked back at the house. "Any witnesses?"
Gary stepped in front of him. "Jo's inside."
Don frowned. "Jo shouldn't have turned up at a crime scene. She's got the night off."
"No. Don, she was in the house when it happened."
Don's eyes widened. "What?"
"She was visiting Seth and. . ."
Don whirled around and sprinted toward the house.
"She's okay!" Gary called after him. He watched him disappear inside and swore inwardly. This was gonna be a long night.
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Jo had been pacing around the small courtyard at the back of the property trying to pull herself together when she heard the back door come flying open. She spun around and saw Don hurrying toward her. She quickly turned away and wiped her eyes with her coat sleeve.
"Jo." He strode in front of her and scanned her body for injuries. Fear rose up in him when he saw the blood stains on the front of her shirt.
"Don. I'm fine. The blood's . . . not mine."
"Thank God." he whispered shakily. He swore inwardly and moved the phone away from his ear for several seconds, before bringing it back toward him. "Mac stop shouting down the phone. She's right in front of me. She's fine."
Jo raised her eyebrows. "You phoned Mac?"
A huge wave of relief swept through Mac. He forced himself to take some steady breaths, then walked quickly into the restaurant and started searching the place for Christine.
"Of course I phoned Mac." Don answered exasperatedly. "Don't you think he should be informed that someone fired two shots into this damn house tonight and you happened to be inside visiting a Seth Turner . . ." Suddenly he heard Mac shouting loudly down the phone. Don brought the phone back to his ear. "What Mac?" He asked tersely.
"She was with Seth Turner?!"
Don frowned and glanced back at her. "Yes."
Mac came to a sudden halt and stared anxiously down at his phone. "Where are you?"
"166. W88th." Don answered.
Ah Crap! I knew that name sounded familiar.
Christine appear from the kitchen and smiled brightly. "Mac!"
He turned quickly and saw her quickening her pace toward him. "Hi. I'm just about to close . . ."
"I'm sorry. I've got to work." Mac interrupted quickly.
Her smile vanished from her face. "But . . . You said you had tonight covered."
"Yea. I know, but this is . . . kind of urgent. I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can." He kissed her on the cheek, turned around then hurried out of the restaurant.
She gazed out of the window at him and sighed heavily as he jumped in his car and drive away. "I guess I'll see you later then." She whispered.
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Jo grabbed the phone off Don. "Mac. You don't have to come up here. Just enjoy your evening with Christine."
Mac started the car and accelerated off up the road. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Don's just told me that Sheldon and Danny are on their way . . ."
"Jo. Why were you visiting Seth Turner?"
She stopped dead in her tracks and her breath stalled in her throat. Of course he knew about Seth Turner. He'd read her file. Slowly she brought the phone away from her ear and dropped it in Don's hand.
Mac took a short cut through a side street and floored the gas up 6th Avenue. He pressed the phone closer to his ear. "Jo? Talk to me!"
Don sighed and brought his phone back to his ear. "I don't think she wants to talk about this over the phone Mac. She's on her way back inside."
Mac cursed loudly. "Don't let her go anywhere near the crime scene. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
Don frowned. "What's this about Mac? . . ." Dammit. He's hung up. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and walked quickly into the house.
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Jo quickened her pace through the hallway and came to an abrupt stop when she reached the Dining area. Her mind started to race as she stared down at Seth's body. The box. . . I need to find it.
Don walked up behind her. "C'mon Jo. You need to get out of here."
She whirled around, brushed passed him and hurried back down the hallway.
"Jo wait!" Don turned back and tore off after her.
Jo hurried into Seth's Study and grabbed a pair of latex gloves from her pocket.
Don moved in front of her. "Okay. That's far enough. You need to leave this one alone."
"I . . . can't do that." She scanned the large study and her eyes settled on a huge glass cabinet that stood in the far corner of the room. Her eyes widened. . . Boxes. She pushed passed him and quickened her pace to the cabinet.
Don frowned and followed her to the cabinet. "What are you looking for?"
She gazed in at the nine boxes. They must have been well over 300 years old. Definitely 18th century and Chinese in origin. She shifted her gaze to the middle shelf. There were two beautifully carved boxes on this shelf, but she wasn't looking at them. She'd noticed a large gap right in the centre. The prime spot for a box to be.
Don turned her back to face him. "Jo. Talk to me."
She gazed back at the cabinet. "I need to find a missing box." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He followed her gaze. "Okay. Theres something missing from this cabinet, but does it have to be a box?"
"Look. I know there's a box missing."
"How do you know?" Don asked curiously.
Russ came to an abrupt stop at the doorway. When he saw Jo his heart leapt to his throat. He stared across the room at her in disbelief. "My God. Jo?"
Her eyes flashed across the room at Russ. Oh Great. She swallowed hard and turned to face him. "You're here?"
He walked quickly toward her. "Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously, staring down at her bloodstained shirt.
She shook her head and glanced away.
Russ tore his gaze from her and turned to Don. "The FBI are working this case. If we need your assistance, we'll call you."
Don stared angrily at him. "What?"
Jo met Russ's intense gaze and narrowed her eyes at him. "When did you reopen this case?"
Russ sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. "Several months ago."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Several months? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't tell you for your own safety." He gazed sternly back at her. "But that didn't quite work out did it. You could have got yourself killed tonight."
"What do you mean, for my own safety? Is this about. . ."
Russ cut her off quickly. "I can't divulge any information on this case Jo. You know that."
Suddenly four Agents walked into the room and started loading Seth's books and Files into cardboard boxes. She spun around and watched anxiously as one of the Agents grabbed Seth's laptop. "Wait! I need to look at that. Give me a couple of minutes. . ."
Russ stepped in front of her. "No! You're not in the FBI now remember? I'm not letting you anywhere near this case. You stay away from it."
She fixed him with a defiant glare. "Fine." She pulled away from him and took one last look around.
Russ watched her start to head out of the room. "Jo!"
She slowed to a stop, hesitated and glanced back at him. "What?"
"You need to tell me if you know anything that could help with this investigation."
She swallowed hard and shifted her gaze to Don. "I don't know anything."
Don stared back at her totally dumbfounded.
Russ sighed inwardly. "I'm gonna pop by the CSI Department around 10:00 tomorrow morning. After some sleep you might remember something."
She fixed him with a hard stare. "If I was to tell you, would you believe me this time?"
He cursed under his breath and glanced back at her. "Look I'm sorry about Seth."
She stared sternly back at him. "You're sorry? You closed this case Russ and now Seth's dead."
He strode toward her. "Hey. That's not fair."
"Isn't it?" She leaned towards him. "Someone got away that night."
Russ sighed heavily. "Jo. He was cleared."
"You never believed me."
Quickly, Don moved toward them. "What the hell's going on here?"
She broke eye contact and moved around Russ. "I'm going home."
Russ pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "I'm taking you home."
"No. Your not . . ."
"I'll make sure she gets home."
Jo spun around and saw Mac standing in the hallway gazing intently back at her. She released a long, unsteady breath and pulled away from Russ. "I'm absolutely fine. I can get myself home."
Mac pushed away from the wall as she bolted passed him. Russ was just about to tear after her when Mac stood in his path. "Now that the FBI are on this case you're gonna be busy here right?"
Russ quickly looked back into Seths Study. Mac was right. He needed to be here.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure she gets home."
Russ glanced back at Mac. "Okay . . . Okay thanks."
"Russ. Is she safe."
Russ released a long, unsteady breath. "I don't know Mac.".
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22:30
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All she'd wanted to do was drive away from there on her own. She needed some space to think. But now she was stuck in her apartment with Mac. He was so damn persistent that she'd ended up letting him in. That had been a mistake. He was refusing to leave now.
Mac walked across to the room and placed the mug of hot tea in front of her. He sat down on the chair opposite hers and gazed at her for a long moment. "Tell me about the case." He said softly.
She glanced away. "You know about the case. It's in my file."
"I heard you and Russ Jo, and now I realise that, I really don't know anything about this case."
She sighed heavily and slid her fingers through her hair. "What do you want to know?"
"It might be easier to start from the beginning."
Jo met Mac's concerned gaze.
Mac saw a tear escape her eyelid. He quickly reached across the table and held her hand. "I'm not gonna force you to talk about this Jo. You've been through a lot tonight. . ."
"No I . . . I want to tell you."
He squeezed her hand. "Okay."
She took a few deep breaths. "As you know. I was working for the FBI Headquarters in Washington. It was Tuesday 6th April 2007. Seth called me that night. He said he was in trouble. I asked him what kind of trouble. He wouldn't tell me. He gave me the address. Wilmore Park. He told me to come to the old industrial site in Hollis Lane. All he said was. 'I need your help Jo.'Those were his last words, before he hung up. I was worried about him, so I drove down there. I caught sight of his car at the end of the lane. It was parked outside an old derelict building. I got out of my car, walked down to the house and peaked through the front window. I saw Seth handing a brief case to a guy. There were six other guys in that room surrounding him. They were all dressed the same, they wore dark suits. . ." She let go of Mac's hand, got to her feet and started pacing around the room. "When I saw this I Immediately called for back up. When I'd finished on the phone and peered back through the window I saw . . ." She came to a sudden stop and wrapped her arms tightly around her.
"Jo. What did you see?" Mac asked anxiously.
"I saw . . . Alex Cole walk into the room dragging Seth's girlfriend, Megan Williams with him . . ."
Mac rose quickly out of the chair. "Are you talking about Alex Cole, who was once the Assistant Director of the FBI Headquaters in Washington?"
Jo turned back to Mac. "Yes."
Mac raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
Jo muttered under her breath and turned back to the window. "Yes Mac. I'm sure."
She sighed heavily and continued. "Alex tied Megan to the chair, took the suitcase from one of the guys and disappeared out of the room. While I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next, back up arrived. I was forced to wait outside whilst they charged the building. It didn't go well for Megan, She caught a bullet and. . . she died instantly." Jo turned away from Mac and swallowed hard as the painful memories swept through her mind. "They managed to take down the seven guys, but Alex Cole . . . he disappeared into thin air that night. I was the only one who fully identified him. Seth could only give them a vague description of Alex and the guys who were arrested, they all said they'd never seen Alex Cole in their life. They covered for him." Jo shook her head and glanced out of the window. "The next day they brought Alex in for questioning. He told them he'd been out with several other Agents down the bar that night. All his alibies checked out." Everyone, including Russ, said I must have made a mistake. Alex walked out of that room and became the assistant director 6 months later." God. She just wanted to slam her fist through her window. Somehow, she managed to control herself.
"Who were these guys that kidnapped Megan Jo?" Mac asked.
"Seth told the FBI that he'd got into debt." Jo shook her head . "Seth was never that good with money." She released a heavy breath and continued. "Anyway. In the interrogation room He said that Megan told him about this organisation that helped people with financial difficulties. He contacted them. They offered him a loan. It wasn't until he accepted the money that they said he had to pay it back to them with a very high interest rate."
Mac cursed inwardly. "Loan Sharking." He glanced back at Jo. "Did Seth tell you about this at the time?"
Her eyes flashed back at Mac's. "Of course he didn't! I would have been able to stop this if he had!"
Mac kept his eyes fixed on hers for several seconds, before he spoke again. "Why are you feeling guilty?"
"What? You think that . . . I . . ." She stopped dead in her tracks and met Mac's piercing gaze. It was then that she realised he had seen right through her. He had become a little too good at that, this last year. She sighed and looked away. "I . . . was really busy at work. I hadn't been to see him for about three months. If I'd taken a couple of hours off and gone to visit him, I would have known something was up, and maybe he would have spoken to me about it. . . But I . . . wasn't there for him."
Mac released a long, exasperated breath. As hammers went, she was beating herself over the head with a whopper. He considered stopping her from going any further, but decided that as tired and upset as she was, she needed to finish the entire story, in order to realise she'd done everything she could to help Seth. It was also vital that he hear her side of the story before Russ turned up in the morning. He gave her a minute, before asking the next question. "What did Seth do when he found out these guys were loan sharks?"
Jo drew in a breath. "He refused to pay the interest, so they visited him one evening while Megan was still at work. They told him that if he didn't pay up in the next couple of days, they would take drastic measures. They didn't tell him what those drastic measures would be. Their threats just made Seth more angry and more determined to stand his ground. He didn't pay up, so . . . they kidnapped Megan." She leaned against the window ledge and glanced back at Mac. "This criminal gang were put away for Extortion, Drug Trafficking and . . . Kidnapping of course. They are serving time in New Jersey State Prison." She cursed inwardly and kicked the table next to her. "The FBI closed the case."
Mac had never seen her so riled up about a case. She was strugglng even more with this, than she was with that horrendous couple of weeks, eight months ago when that sonofabitch John Curtis decided to crawl out of the woodwork and rear his ugly head. Fear and rage slammed his chest. God. He didn't want her life to be in danger ever again. He released a long, long breath and watched her as she gazed out of the window. "Jo. How long did you know Seth?"
Slwly she gazed back at Mac. She blinked back the tears and paused for a long moment. "Since . . . I was twelve." She gazed back out of the window. "We grew up in Alabama. He was . . . my best friend."
Mac's eyes widened. My God. That wasn't on the file. He rose from his seat. "Jo. . . I'm sorry. I didn't know."
She swallowed back the emotions, forced the childhood memories from her mind and finally found some semblance of self control. It was a little easier to focus her mind on the last few years. "I've spent all my spare time, these last five years, running through the case, trying to find the truth, but Alex Cole's record was clean and of course he knew exactly how to cover his tracks." She sighed heavily. "Seth seemed to start moving on with his life, so I stopped asking questions, but I never really let this go." She turned back and fixed Mac with a determined gaze. "I know I saw Alex Cole that night."
He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I believe you Jo."
"Thanks. That means a lot." Several seconds later, the smile had vanished from her face.
"I . . . noticed a change in Seth. He wasn't himself. . ." Her voice trailed off as the memory flashed through her mind. Another stray tear rolled down her cheek and she started to move away.
"Jo?" Mac gently gripped her shoulders and turned her back to him. "When was this?"
"About . . . three months ago."
"Around September?" Mac asked curiously.
"Yes." She pushed out a long, weary breath. "I started visiting him more frequently. He seemed nervous, on edge. He wasn't going out of the house. It was like he was barricading himself in . . ." She stopped dead in her tracks and stared fearfully back at Mac. "Oh my God. Alex Cole retired from the FBI in September!"
Mac cursed inwardly. "Yea, He did."
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Okay next chapter, we will meet the rest of the team and more revelations come to light about Megan's family history.
And what happens when Mac gets back to Christine. How long is he away from her? A few hours or all night? You'll find out in the next chapter lol!
Maybe you'll meet the bad guys, but that might be in chapter 3.