HEY :)

SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY GETTING THIS CHAPTER UP.

FINALLY THO LOL :)

What happened at the end of the previous chapter.

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Jo scanned the pages. Her eyes widened. "He's . . . been involved in Embezzlement, Securities Fraud, Skimming Casino's . . ." She scrolled further down the page. "Art Theft, Arms Trafficking, Drugs Trafficking. . ." Her breath hitched in her throat as she came to the bottom of the page.

'Contract Killings, Sex Trafficking . . . Crap.' Mac pulled Jo away from the computer and quickly closed the window.

She got shakily to her feet and tore out of his Office.

"Jo." Mac slowed to a stop at the door and watched her disappear down the hall. A few seconds later he heard the door to the Guest Room slamming shut.

He leaned up against the wall and glanced back at the computer, the rage slamming through his heart. 'I'll find you, you sonofabitch.'

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CHAPTER 6.

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Mac decided to leave Jo alone for a while. He went back to the computer and looked through the rest of the files that she'd managed to retreive from Alex Cole's Computer.

Cole's signature had been on six illegal contracts. There had been deliveries of AK 47 Fire Arms and several hundred pounds of Canabis had been imported from Mexico just the other month.

Several minutes later, Mac found some more documents. Another shipment had come in last month. It was a list from 1 to 50. The girls had just been a number. They had no name. Their ages had been written beside the number. They were between 13 to 16 years of age and along side their ages, their physical attributes had been added. Mac swallowed back the rage, leaned forward in his seat and tried to calm down. He needed to give himself a couple of minutes before he continued searching through the rest of the data.

The next two contracts were to do with Extortion and Illegal gambling.

And according to the most updated information, Cole had collected $10,000 just last week for killing a Darren Hurstwood.

It was all there. Jo had got him. She'd found the evidence she'd needed to bring him down, but it had come at a huge price.

Mac had seen enough. He disconnected the hard drive and switched off the computer, then he walked out of the Office and through the apartment to the Guest Room. He listened by the door and heard her moving around inside. He could hardly blame her for being unable to sleep. He tapped lightly.

Jo looked toward the door and released a long, pent up breath. "Yes."

"Can I come in?"

She sighed heavily. "Okay."

Mac opened the door and saw her standing at the far end of the room gazing out of the window.

He closed the door quietly behind him and looked back at her. "I was going to make a hot drink. Would you like one?"

"Yea. Coffee will be good."

Mac stared across at her for several seconds. "How about Hot Chocolate."

She glanced down at her watch, then frowned back at him. "At three o' clock in the afternoon?"

"Did you sleep last night?"

She looked away and crossed her arms tightly around her. "I don't need to sleep. I'm really not that tired . . ." She stopped mid-sentence and stared anxiously back at him. "My God. What am I doing here. I've got to get that Hard Drive to the FBI Department right away!"

Jo started toward the door.

Mac stepped back, so that he was standing right in front of it.

"I'm taking the Hard Drive. You're staying here."

Her eyes widened. "I can't do that. I need to . . . give a written statement and . . ." She turned back to the window and swallowed hard. "They'll want to question me." She said, her voice now barely above a whisper.

"Jo, I'll let Russ know you're fine and we'll go down there together in the morning."

Her eyes shot back at his. "I'm not dragging you into this mess Mac."

"No you're not. I'm willingly traipsing into it with you."

"No . . . You can't."

"Yes I can."

"Mac Please." She pleaded.

Mac caught sight of the DNA Test Jo had found in the box. It was lying on the bedside table only a few feet away and he could see the results clearly. It did indeed prove that Seth had the same biological mother as Jo.

He remembered one of the messages he'd read on the Hard Drive several minutes ago, the message which he'd guessed Jo had discovered earlier. It explained how she'd discovered the box's location. There was still no proof that Alex Cole had actually falsified his personal history to cover this up. All Mac knew was what was in this message and what Colin had told him.

Nolan Garrett and Alex Cole knew about a box and they were desperate to find it, but did they actually know what was in it?

What if Cole really didn't know that he had a son? Hard to believe, but there was no evidence to suggest that he did. Jo's Mother had Seth adopted and sent away to Colorado the moment he was born.

Taking all the information into account, If just this one D.N.A Sheet had been discovered by the FBI or the NYPD, Would Alex Cole have been commanded to step down from his position as Assistant Director? If the story was leaked to the press, yes. Would he have been told to leave the FBI altogether? Probably. But Mac doubted the FBI would have looked further into this. It certainly wouldn't have been enough to arouse suspicion of his Crimininal Activities.

Maybe in this situation, ignorance was bliss?

That's what Colin thought any way.

Right at this moment Mac couldn't help but think it too.

He couldn't help but wish he hadn't asked Colin where the box was now. They had enough evidence on the Hard Drive to put Cole away for life. They didn't need that DNA Sheet in that damn box . . .

Mac was torn from his thoughts by a flash of movement.

Jo dived across the bed and snatched up the sheet of paper. "This is . . . nothing. It's just . . ."

"Jo I already know."

Her eyes flashed back at his. "What?"

Mac released a long breath and perched himself on the edge of the bed. "Don met with Kye Simmonds late last night. Kye told him he'd found DNA Evidence that confirmed Alex Cole was Seth's father."

Jo continued to stare across at Mac for several more seconds. "Oh. Okay. . . I take it it's in the hands of the FBI now." She murmured quietly.

"No. It isn't."

She glanced quickly back at Mac. "He hasn't taken it in?"

Mac sighed heavily. Great. "He . . . didn't get a chance. He was taken from his apartment at 05:00 this morning and. . . he didn't go willingly."

Her eyes widened. "My God."

"The DNA Data's missing."

Jo tore her eyes from Mac and stared back at the window. "Did anyone see anything?"

"All I know is, Several neighbors phoned in reporting a disturbance. The FBI aren't giving us any further information at the moment." Mac sighed inwardly. "Jo? Look at me."

She swallowed into an aching throat and slowly turned back to Mac.

"You don't have to hide them DNA Test Results from me. Colin's already filled me in." Mac replied gently.

Jo blinked back the tears and brought out the sheet of paper from behind her back. "I don't know how I'm ever going to get passed this." She whispered.

Mac shifted toward her and slowly took the sheet of paper from her hand. "You will get through this Jo." A quick scan of the page confirmed that Seth matched the same sequences of DNA as Alex Cole. That was a 99.9% certainty that Alex was indeed Seth's father. Mac drew in a breath, let it out. He put the DNA Results Sheet on the bedside table and turned back to her. "It's a lot to take in. You need to give yourself some time."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I feel . . . so tired"

He moved closer and held out his arms. "Come here." he whispered.

She shuffled toward him and laid her head on his chest.

He grabbed the crumpled up blanket and wrapped it around her, then he brought his arms around her and pressed his lips to the top of her head. Having Jo close like this felt so good. It felt. . . amazing.

Christine flashed into his mind and suddenly he remembered the text message she'd sent him this morning.

I'm coming round your place tonight, when i've finished work.

We have to talk.

He swore inwardly and slowly leaned his head back against the pillow. There was no way he was going to let Jo go back to her apartment until they found Alex Cole and his gang. She was staying right here, which meant he had to stop Christine coming around tonight. If she found out Jo was staying in his apartment . . . My God. That wouldn't look good. He needed to get over to the restaurant this afternoon and talk to Christine, but more importantly, he had to get the hard drive to Russ and let him know he'd found Jo. Damnit. He really should have phoned Russ by now.

Several minutes later, Mac was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a light tapping on his apartment door.

Who the hell's that?

He glanced quickly down at Jo and was relieved to find her now fast asleep in his arms. Suddenly aware of her warm body beside him, he breathed deep and smelled her. Christ. Look at her. She's just . . . beautiful. He could carry on fighting these feelings he had for her, deny how much he cared for her. Lie to himself until Iraq became the fifty-first state, but he couldn't out run it any longer. The truth had dogged him like a shadow, relentless and demanding for the last two years and now he had to face it.

He eased carefully off the bed so he wouldn't wake her, took the DNA Results from the bedside table and moved quickly out of the room closing the door quietly behind him.

When he reached the front door he looked through the peephole and saw Don standing out in the corridor, the impatience etched on his face.

The second Mac had released the lock, Don came barrelling through the door into the apartment.

He glanced anxiously around the main room. "Where the hell is she?"

"Don she's . . . fine. Just calm down or you'll end up waking her. She's asleep in the Guest Room."

Don pushed out a long, pent up breath and started pacing around the room. "Okay." He came to an abrupt stop and turned back to Mac. "Where did you find her?"

"At Colin's place."

Don frowned. "Who's Colin?"

Don was about to grill him for more information but Mac cut him off abruptly. "Look I'll fill you in later, but right now I need you to hang around here for an hour and keep an eye on Jo. I have to get a Hard Drive to the FBI Department. I wont be long."

Mac started for the office.

Don stopped him. "What Hard Drive?"

Mac sighed inwardly. "Jo hacked into Alex Cole's computer. It's good news. We have the evidence to take Alex Cole down. Now get out of my damn way."

Don stood frozen to the spot as Mac brushed passed him. When he returned a couple of moments later with Jo's rucksack, Don was still in the same spot trying to process the information.

"Okay. I'll be back soon. Don't let her leave this apartment."

Don glanced back at Mac and took a deep steady breath. "Okay. . .I'll hang around here." Suddenly he saw Mac putting a sheet of paper in the front pocket of the ruck sack. He glanced closer at it, his frown deepened and he quickly snatched it out of his hand. "What is this?"

Mac cursed under his breath. "Don just give it back . . ." He stopped mid – sentence and sighed again. Don was going to find out about this sooner rather than later. It was probably best he knew about this now.

Don stared wide eyed at the DNA Results. "My God." He glanced back at Mac, his eyes wide with concern. "I'm guessing Jo didn't know about this before hand?"

Mac took it back from him. "No." He murmured. "This was what was . . . in the box."

"You found the box too?"

Mac released another heavy breath. "Jo found it." He turned quickly on his heels and walked out of his apartment, leaving Don standing there trying to take in everything he had just heard.

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In a fit of rage Alex Cole threw one of the wooden chairs against the wall. He pointed at the desk. "She had a bloody Hard Drive connected to this computer!"

Ed glanced around the room. "I can't see it. She must have taken it with her."

Alex bounded toward Ed and grabbed the front of his suit Jacket. "I know that you Idiot!" He pushed Ed backwards. He came close to barrelling into the old wooden bookcase in the corner, but just managed to stay on his feet.

Nolan scanned the room. "Apart from the Hard Drive her bag of clothes and her tech equipment are still here. She'll come back for them. I say we wait for her."

Alex swore loudly and turned back to Nolan. "She could turn up with a whole load of damn FBI Agents. She's probably even handed the Hard Drive to them by now." He glared viciously back at her computer. "Well she's not going to get away with this."

Nolan looked back at Alex. "So how do we do this?"

Alex's eyes flashed back at Nolan and Ed. "Nolan. Call the rest of the gang down here. A group will watch this house." He gazed furiously back at the computer. "Us three will take half a dozen other men with us in the van and go look for her. She won't get away with this." He snarled

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It took Mac less than fifteen minutes to get to the FBI Building. He drew up along the side walk, grabbed Jo's rucksack from the seat and headed inside.

Russ was standing outside his office talking to a Carl Bertrum when he saw Mac walking quickly towards him. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Jo's Rucksack on Mac's Shoulder. He cut Carl short and told him they would need to finish this conversation later, then quickly held his door open and motioned Mac inside. He slammed the door shut and spun back to him, his eyes wide with concern. "Where did you get that?"

Mac dropped her rucksack on Russ's desk and pulled out the Hard Drive. "I've found Jo. She's fine. . . upset but fine."

A wave of relief swept through him. "Thank God."

"Russ. She's really tired. Let me bring her down here tomorrow, when she's had a good night sleep."

Russ grabbed the hard drive off Mac, strode toward his desk and connected it to the computer. "I can't consider that until I see what's on this hard drive."

Mac released a long breath. "You wont like it."

Russ's eyes flashed to Mac's, then back at the monitor. Suddenly several files came up on the screen. He scanned the information before him and Immediately his heart froze. Finally he met Mac's anxious gaze. "She . . . was right." He slowly rose out of his seat. "Where is she?"

Mac glanced across at him for several seconds. "She's in my apartment asleep in the Guest Room. Don's round there."

"Where did you find her?"

"I . . . ran into a Colin Smith just up the road from Seths Apartment. He was worried about Jo. He wanted to know if she was okay. He started to open up to me. I asked him if he knew about a box. He told me he had it. I managed to get him to tell me where it was." Mac reached back into the rucksack brought it out and put it on the desk.

Russ gazed sternly back at Mac. "Who the hell is Colin Smith Mac?

"He was Seth's friend. He know's Jo pretty well too."

"So where is he?"

Mac swore inwardly. "He ran."

Russ cursed loudly. "He ran? Why the hell did you let him get away?!"

Mac glared back at Russ. "I was busy trying to stop Jo from bolting out of the building?"

Russ stared back at him. Now he was totally confused. He pushed out a long deep breath and forced himself to focus. "What building?"

Mac sighed heavily and started pacing around the room. "2 W 130th."

Russ grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down Colin's name and address.

Mac continued. "Colin had the box in his apartment and that's where I found Jo. Look Russ. I don't believe Colin is the bad guy here. He was hiding the box from Seth and Jo to protect them, and when he ran off, it was because he didn't want the FBI anywhere near him. He know's about Alex Cole and he hates the FBI because of him."

Russ swore under his breath and grabbed his phone. "I'm sending a van around to your place. The two of you will need some protection until we can catch up with Alex Cole . . ." He stopped mid – sentence and glanced quickly back at Mac. "Wait. What or who was Colin Smith trying to protect Seth and Jo from?"

Mac cursed inwardly and brought the sheet of paper out of his pocket. "This was found in the box."

Russ walked up to Mac, took it from him and scanned the information.

His breath caught in his throat and all he could do was stare in stunned shock at the DNA Results in front of him.

"As you can imagine, this has been quite a shock for her. Just leave her alone tonight Russ."

Russ tore his eyes from the sheet of paper and looked up, just in time to see him disappear out of the office and down the corridor. "Mac wait!"

Mac tore out the building, jumped in his car and drove away from there as fast as he could. Luckily Russ hadn't sent a load of Agents after him.

His next stop was Christine's restaurant. It was just a few blocks away so it only took him a couple of minutes. When he drew the car to a stop and stepped out onto the side walk his heart was pounding like marching feet. He drew in a deep breath, let it out, then walked up to the restaurant, hesitating slightly as he pulled open the main doors and disappeared inside.

"Mac!" Christine appeared from behind the counter and moved quickly toward him. "I'm so glad you're here." She glanced around, then took his arm and lead him to the edge of the room. "I'm really sorry about last night. I was just being stupid and childish. We have something good together, you and me . . ." Her smile wavered as she stared up at him. ". . . right?"

Mac swallowed into a dry throat. Oh God help me. "Christine. I know you're working, but I had to come here to tell you that . . . you're right. We . . . do need to talk about us. We can't do this tonight though. I'm working around the clock on an extremely important case and. . ."

Christine raised her hand to stop him, the smile now totally vanished from her face. "Well you've got to come back to your apartment some time tonight. I'll let myself in and wait for you."

Mac's eyes widened. "No. . . no, no you can't. . . I mean, I'll probably be at the Station all night and . . ."

"My God. You really want to break up with me don't you?"

"No. . . I mean. . ." He stopped dead in his tracks and sighed heavily. "Look. We can't talk about this now."

Her face drained to pale. And something even stronger than pain glazed her features. Humiliation.

He felt like he'd just kicked a puppy. Great going Mac. "I'm just saying, I think it will be a good idea to talk this through . . ." He stopped mid - sentence, when suddenly she spun around and took off across the busy floor.

She moved remarkably fast in her heels, so fast, he had to scramble to catch up with her. She'd woven her way through the crowd, exited the restaurant and was well into the back hallway before he finally snagged her arm. With more discretion then he thought he had in him, he gripped her upper arm and turned her slowly around to face him. "Look I know I've hurt you. You didn't deserve this. I'm sorry."

"Go to hell."

"Right. Look, Christine . . ."

"As far as i'm concerned we have nothing more to say to each other."

When her gaze met his, hurt and anger flashed in her green eyes like mortar fire through night vision goggles.

"Now if you don't mind, I want nothing more right now then to watch you disappear out of my restaurant and out of my life for good." She fixed him with a long, hard stare. "Have a great life Mac!" She spat bitterly.

There wasn't much Mac could do but watch her walk away. He dragged a hand through his hair. God he felt like the scum of the earth. She had every right to lay into him. She hadn't deserved this crap.

Trying to settle himself, he turned around and headed back out the restaurant. He wasn't about to leave it like this, but he couldn't talk to Christine now. His top priority was to do everything in his power to find Alex Cole and get him behind bars, but first he needed to go to Jo's apartment, grab her some clothes and toiletries and get back to her and Don as quick as possible.

He got to Jo's apartment in double quick time.

He found a spare bag in her bedroom and started filling it with clothes.

When he pulled open her top drawer he found himself staring down at her underwear. He quickly tore his eyes away. For God sake Mac. Get a grip. Without looking this time, he grabbed a load of bra's and panties and shoved them in the bag along with several sets of night clothes. He went to zip up the bag but his eyes were suddenly locked on her silk night dress like steel to a magnet. God. It looked so damn hot. Too damn hot. Unsettlingly aroused, he quickly pulled it out of the bag, chucked it back in the drawer and chose another set of pyjama's. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at them for several seconds. He smiled inwardly. She looked so cute in these. He remembered seeing her wearing them a few months back when he'd come round and dropped off a case file. He rolled his eyes and sighed. She looks so damn gorgeous in whatever she wears. He zipped up the bag and walked out of her bedroom.

He came to an abrupt stop along the hallway when he saw her Study to his left. He gazed across at it for several seconds. Then slowly placed her bag on the floor and walked up to the door. He tried the handle and it opened easily. He walked inside and looked around for a few minutes. Suddenly he caught sight of the door in the corner of the room. Jo said it led to a walk in cupboard. He'd never seen inside. He walked across the room toward it and found it locked, but after several attempts he was finally able to break the door open. He stepped inside and turned on the light.

It was no small cupboard. It was another room, roughly the same size as her Study. His breath stalled in his chest. There were photo's of Alex Cole, newspaper cuttings of him, several Maps of Hollis lane and the surrounding area, Autopsy pictures of Megan Williams, Crime Scene Photo's. Most of this was the evidence collected from back in 2007. But Jo had managed to get hold of recent newspaper articles of Alex Cole just before he retired six months ago. Mac cursed inwardly and released a heavy breath, then he spun around and got the hell out of there.

When Mac arrived back at his place Jo was still asleep. Don stayed with him for another half hour while he talked to him in a little more depth about his encounter with Colin Smith, but he kept what he'd seen in Jo's apartment quiet. He needed to talk to her about this first.

After Don left, Mac got to work cooking a pasta dish for tea. He was leaning up against the kitchen counter, finishing up a glass of juice and squaring away the arguments in his head when he heard her walk up behind him.

"Hi."

He turned quickly and stared across at her for several seconds. Yes. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Hey. . . How are you feeling?"

"I'm . . . feeling better. Thanks." She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Look. I'm sorry I got all teary on you. I was being a baby." She faked a smile.

He didn't smile back. "No. You weren't. You were upset. It must have been quite a shock."

Her smile faded and she tore her eyes from Mac. "I'm fine."

He sighed inwardly, reached for a clean glass and poured her some juice. "Drink this."

She turned back and stared down at the Juice. "Thanks." She walked back to the breakfast bar, drew up a stool, then cupped the glass in her hand and took a sip. Suddenly remembering what Mac had said to her earlier, her eyes flashed back at his. "The Hard Drive."

"I took it to the FBI and handed it to Russ, so now it's time to let this case go Jo. The FBI will find Alex Cole Okay?"

She gazed back at her glass.

"Jo?"

She looked back and immediately noticed the intense anxiety flickering in his eyes. "Look. I'm . . . sorry I took off like that last night, but I had to . . ." Jo froze to the spot when Mac slammed his glass down on the breakfast bar.

"No you didn't! You should never have done something so reckless! Why didn't you talk to me about this?!"

Jo jumped off the stool. "I did tell you."

"You told me last night."

"Yes!"

"Why didn't you share this with me before?!"

She stared back at him. "What?"

Mac released a long, pent up breath and gazed exasperatedly at her. "Why did you leave

Washington?"

"Mac. What are you talking about?"

"Why Jo?"

"Because of the John Curtis case. You know that."

"That's why you left the FBI. I'm asking you why you left Washington and moved here."

She swallowed hard and looked away. "I . . . needed a change."

Mac moved around the breakfast bar toward her. He gently grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. "No. You were obsessed with the case."

Her eyes flashed back at his. "Mac. I wasn't . . ."

He cut her off and continued. "You wanted to forget what happened that night in Hollis Lane. You hated what it was doing to you, didn't you? You moved here to try and get away from it, but you couldn't bring yourself to throw out the case file. That's why you still have the Crime Scene and Autopsy photo's, as well as the rest of the evidence reports from 2007, and of course photo's and newspaper clippings of Alex Cole."

She stared up at him her eyes wide. "You. . . broke into . . . the back room?"

He saw the anger flicker in her eyes and swallowed into a dry throat. Dammit. "I needed to check."

She tried to push him away, but he just held her more firmly. "Why . . . Why would you do that?" She shouted.

Their eyes were suddenly locked on each other and an immeasurable silence stretched between them. He said nothing, just leaned toward her until his mouth was a mere breath away from hers. "Because I . . . love you." he whispered.

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DO MAC AND JO KISS? FIND OUT IN NEXT CHAPTER.

AND MORE CSI TEAM SCENES.