Sparks Fly with Electric in the Air

Chapter 1

Two weeks ago a new CSI was hired, Walter Simmonds, he seemed to fit into the team quite well. Walter took to both Ryan and Zoë well, fitting in with their personalities. Ryan began to develop a good relationship with Walter, but felt slightly threatened by him intruding on the relationship that both Ryan and Zoe had together, although in reality nothing had changed between them, he still felt slightly threatened and quite often became very protective of Zoe. Walter noted this protectiveness and didn't step over the line with Zoe in fear of jeopardising the friendly relationship that both he and Ryan had. Walter also quickly caught on to the very close dynamics of Horatio's relationship with Zoe and often stepped lightly around Horatio, everyone knew that Horatio was very protective of Zoe, even witnesses or suspects, it was his weakness and he couldn't help it. Walter didn't seem to get on so well with Eric, but never gave an explanation as to why, but he noted the close relationship between Horatio and Eric and a friendly relationship between Eric and Ryan, also between Eric and Zoe.

Zoe was still slightly weary of Walter; she could always form friendships quickly, but could never form a close bond or trust them until she really knew them well. Both Horatio and Ryan noticed that when she was in the room with one of them and Walter, she'd stand very close to them, making bodily contact, usually with her arm or shoulder. They both assumed she'd subconsciously do it for security and this was often when their protectiveness of Zoe would manifest itself a lot more noticeably.

Walter hadn't picked up on it just yet, but Eric had definitely noticed and she'd often stand a lot closer to him as well when left with him and Walter.

She personally didn't feel threatened by Walter at all, but had always had a problem with trust. Eric found himself feeling a little protective of her when she'd stand close to him. She'd happily be in a room with him and feel safe, so Walter didn't entirely pick up on her distrust.

Walter wasn't aware of anything that had gone on between Zoe or Horatio, or what they had gone through.

Horatio still craved for Zoe and did everything he could to continue to have a close relationship with her and being generally close to her. Horatio had subconsciously become more protective of her than what he used to be, he knew she could look after herself but when witnesses or suspects or even innocent bystanders checked her out he'd flash the badge whilst placing his hands on his hips, giving them a 'move along' look, warning them off.

Ryan would do the same, but was less subtle about it and would usually give suspects a very dirty look if they even looked at her in the slightest way. Horatio was a lot more subtle but could be quite confrontational when she was faced by people who came on strong to her or presented a threat to her. She knew that they were both protective of her, but usually didn't see them do this.

Zoe's wrist had healed and she was finally out of the aircast although it could still be slightly tender if a little too much pressure was put on it. Both Horatio and Ryan watched her every move and made sure she didn't overdo herself or got into any trouble at all, often putting themselves in harm's way to protect her.

Zoë had taught both Ryan and Horatio advanced life-saving techniques just as Nathan had asked, she only taught the both of them as either one was always with her unless she was home.

One hot Wednesday morning the team received a call out, they jumped straight into it. Zoë hopped into the hummer with Ryan and smiled at him as he gave her a smile. They drove over to the hotel and they pulled up and saw Horatio already talking with Frank.

"Hey H, what have we got?" Ryan questioned as they walked over to him. Horatio looked at Zoë as she looked over at the hotel, studying it. He admired her as she squinted; she looked back round to him, not hearing him answer yet. He quickly looked back at Ryan, hoping she didn't catch him. He had accidently lost himself in her again, wanting to just hold her. He knew that both Frank and Ryan had noticed, but couldn't stop himself.

"We've got a young woman who had been assaulted before being murdered." Frank said jumping in, knowing that Horatio had lost all track of thought because of Zoe.

"Thank you Frank." Ryan said with a nod, Ryan knew Horatio hated being so distant with her, everyone saw it.

"You coming, Zoë?" Ryan questioned as he walked away.

"Yeah, I'll be right a long." She said as she gave him a small smile and a nod.

"Okay." He replied as he turned and walked in.

"Horatio, are you okay?" She questioned, seeing him not his usual self. Frank quickly walked away, giving them some space.

"Yes, I'm good." Horatio said with a slight smile, fiddling with his sunglasses.

"Are you sure?" She questioned looking up into his bright blue eyes which seemed to sparkle as she spoke to him.

"I'm sure, thank you Zoë." He said softly as he looked down at his sunglasses in his hands.

"Okay, I'll see you in there." She said tilting her head, still not completely believing him. Horatio gave her a nod and then watched her turn around and walk in. He exhaled, watching her walk in.

"Everything okay H?" Frank questioned as he walked back over to him.

'No, no it's not' Horatio wanted to say but instead he replied with "yes, all is well, Frank." He said as he looked down at the floor.

"Okay H." Frank said as he looked over to some people gathering by the police tape.

Horatio quickly walked in after her and walked into the room where the body was laying. Zoë stood next to Ryan by a wardrobe as Alexx looked over the body. Horatio glanced up at Zoë as he entered.

"Alexx have you got anymore for me?" Horatio questioned, seeing Alexx look over the body. He looked at Alexx as he walked over to her.

"No, I'll know more when I get her back to autopsy. I can't say if she was killed by the neck injury or from the injuries to her stomach." Alexx said as she looked up at Horatio, seeing Horatio glance over at Zoë again as she turned around to look at what Ryan was doing.

Zoë walked over to Alexx to get a better look at the body. She looked down at the woman.

'Oh my! This killer is a sicko.' She thought to herself. She stood next to Horatio, looking down at her.

"Is her right eye missing?" She questioned as she crouched down and leant in closer.

"Yes honey" Alexx replied. Zoë didn't even look up at her, she just nodded. Horatio watched her and quickly found himself day-dreaming about being with her again. Zoë stood back up again as she exhaled and looked down at her. As she stood, she brought Horatio out of his daze as her arm rubbed against his.

"Do we know if she was sexually assaulted?" She questioned, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around, seeing the blood spatter on the ceiling.

"It looks like she was." Alexx said looking up at her, also just noticing the blood spatter on the ceiling.

"She was killed by her throat being slit." Zoë said looking back over to Horatio. Horatio looked up at the ceiling. 'How could I miss that?' He thought to himself, questioning why he'd missed such a vital piece of information that covered most of the ceiling. He looked back down to Zoë as she looked back up at the ceiling. 'She's why…' Horatio exhaled as he thought. 'Come on, get your head in the case.' Horatio thought to himself as he looked down at his feet. Horatio stepped away and looked around the rest of the room, trying to get his head in the case and off Zoë.

Ryan, Walter, Eric and Zoë all processed while Alexx got the body back to autopsy. Frank came into the room and stood by Horatio. Horatio placed his hands on his hips and looked down at the bed while Frank spoke.

"I've spoken to the staff on duty and none of them heard or saw anything." Frank said as he studied his colleagues posture.

"Thank you Frank… can we get the staff processed please?" Horatio said looking over to his 4 CSI's. Zoë looked over to Walter and Eric with a sweet smile, urging them to step forwards. Horatio also looked over to Walter and Eric, seeing Zoë's smile.

"Alright" Walter exhaled as he got up and put his torch in his kit as he picked it up. Zoë looked over to Eric with a smile. Eric exhaled with a smile and stood with a nod.

"Sure thing H" Eric said with a smile as he picked his kit up and gave Zoë another smile.

Horatio would have usually left the scene by now, but wanted to stay to keep an eye on Zoë. She got up and pulled a chair over to the bed and went to stand on it when Ryan called her name.

"Yes?" She questioned looking round to him.

"I've got that." Ryan said as he quickly made his way over to her as Horatio turned around.

"I can stand on a chair Ryan…" She said raising an eyebrow at him.

"I know that…" Ryan said trying to think up an excuse. "You probably won't reach the ceiling and I'm a bit taller than you." Ryan said with a small smile, happy with the excuse. Truth is he didn't want her to do anything that put her in any danger at all, he could easily see her falling from the chair.

"Are you sure you can reach the ceiling? You probably want Horatio to do it as he's taller than you in that case, short-ass." She grinned, she quickly walked away, letting him win but also happy with her playful insult. A smile appeared across Horatio's face as he looked down.

"You're not taller than me anyway." She said as she crouched down and picked up her torch as she looked under a cabinet as Ryan got a sample of the blood from the ceiling. She glanced back as she heard Ryan get down from the chair and took a double take as something caught her eye. She got up and walked over to the bed as both Ryan and Horatio looked at her, seeing her see something. Horatio walked over to her as she crouched down and reached under the bed, pushing the draped duvet to the side as she reached for a knife. Both Horatio and Ryan looked down and watched her reach for it when she quickly withdrew her arm with a hiss of pain.

"Are you okay?" They both asked automatically and immediately as Ryan quickly crouched down, concerned.

"I'm fine." She said as she reached for the knife again.

"Zoë, what's wrong?" Horatio asked concerned, looking down at her as she pulled the knife back.

"It's just a splinter." She said as she stood up and held the knife in her hand and looked at it. Neither Horatio or Ryan even looked at the knife, they just focussed on her.

"Are you sure? Can I look?" Horatio asked, worried. Zoë looked up from the knife at Horatio and Ryan, seeing their worried faces. She lowered her eyebrows. 'They're looking at me like I've just been stabbed, what is with them?' She thought to herself.

"Seriously, you both need to stop worrying about me so much. It's only a splinter." She said looking from Ryan to Horatio. She looked back down at the knife and quickly photographed it before bagging it.

"Both of you, stop worrying." She ordered kindly, looking back at them with a sweet smile. They both exhaled, knowing they were overreacting.

"I don't understand why you worry so much." She said as she looked back round to her kit and stood up. Ryan gave her a small smile and then walked through to the bathroom to start looking around there. Horatio looked at Zoë and she looked back at him.

"Look, it's only a splinter." She said showing him the side of her hand.

"It's nothing." She said reassuring him. He nodded at her, looking her in the eye then down over at the floor a few meters away.

"You don't need to worry about me every single minute of the day, and neither do you pretty boy." She said, and called the last bit a little louder. Horatio nodded, knowing he overreacts too much when it comes to her.

"Zoë?" She turned around, hearing her name being called. Horatio looked up at her as she turned around.

"I'll be right back." She said quietly as she slowly made her way out to the corridor, hearing her name being called again. Horatio watched her curiously and put his sunglasses away as he walked out after her, seeing her standing in the corridor. He looked down to the floor before looking back up at her as she had her back to him, looking down the corridor.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overreact." Horatio said softly as he walked around her and stood in front of her. She stepped to the side, and looked over his shoulder. He glanced back, but saw no-one. He looked back around to her.

"Sweetheart?" Horatio questioned, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Yes, sorry Horatio. What were you saying?" She questioned as she looked back to him sweetly.

"I'm sorry for overreacting. Are you alright?" He questioned.

"That's okay, yeah, I'm fine thanks honey." She said as she glanced over his shoulder again and then gave him a smile as she turned around and walked back into the room and got back to processing. Horatio stood there for a little while and looked back around before walking back into the room. Before they knew it, they were driving back and got to the lab to look at the evidence. Walter slipped away when shift ended while Eric, Ryan and Zoë stayed back a little while and left an hour later while Horatio stayed in his office. He sat in his chair and leant back looking at his blank computer screen.

'What's the point in going home?' Horatio questioned himself. 'There's nothing for me there.' Horatio sighed. He picked up a pile of paper and began getting on with some paperwork.

2 hours later he was still sat in his office, hearing the night shift staff chat and laugh. He sat back again, and his mind was set back on Zoë.

'What has my life come to when it was once so perfect?' Horatio thought to himself. 'Does she have any feelings for me at all? How can something that was once so strong just disappear?' He exhaled violently as he forcefully closed one of the files that lay in front of him. 'I should have been honest with her from the beginning, why didn't I tell her? Surely it couldn't have been any worse than this? I can't sit back and just watch her, I need her and she doesn't even know it.' He looked down at his phone and saw the tired lines engraved on his face in the reflection of the screen, from the lack of sleep he's had. 'I can't carry on like this, something has to change.' Horatio thought to himself as he threw his phone onto the desk and leant forwards, putting his head in his hands.

'Why didn't he just kill me?' Horatio thought to himself. 'He could have just killed me, that's better than this. Anything is better than this.' He exhaled as he dropped his hands from his face. He exhaled and looked down to the file that he leant on. He sat back and opened a draw and picked out a photo. He swallowed as he looked at the photograph tenderly, looking at Zoë's brilliant smile and then to his smile as he stood just behind her, embracing her around her waist. A small smile developed across his face as he remembered the situation when she snapped the photo of them both. He put it down and picked up another, a small one. He looked at it and studied it, it was the one he'd taken from her purse at the hospital as she didn't remember them. He swallowed as he looked at how happy he was and then looked at Zoë in the picture, remembering the photo being taken while they were on the beach as she sat between his legs one evening when the sun was going down. He felt both happy and sad; he swallowed as he placed the larger photo back in his draw as he placed the smaller one in his inside pocket. He then looked over at his phone vibrating with Zoë's name popping up on the screen. He reached over and cleared his throat before answering.

"Horatio?" She asked as he picked up.

"Zoë? Is everything okay?" He questioned as he sat back.

"Yeah… where are you Horatio?" She questioned.

"I'm…" Horatio thought about it, he didn't want to say he was still at work because she'd know something was up, but didn't want to lie to her as she'd sus him out and could probably see that his car wasn't on his drive.

"I only ask because I've just arrested someone who was trying to break into your house." She said softly as she stood in his back garden as some officers dragged a young man away.

"Sorry?" Horatio questioned, thinking he'd misheard her.

"I was out for a jog when I happened to look over at your house and saw a young male trying to get in through your back door." She said softly, hearing the slightly stressed tone in his voice.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, not at all worried about the house, but about her.

"I'm fine, I can't say the same for the perpetrator though, I don't think he'll ever try to break into a house again." Zoë chuckled.

"I'm on my way back now." Horatio said as he walked out quickly and hung up. He quickly drove back to his and went through to his back garden where Zoë stood with a few officers.

"Where have you been?" She questioned with a sweet smile as she had her hands on her hips.

"I had a pile of work to complete." Horatio said lying through his teeth, he just couldn't bear to go home to an empty house and did the extra work to keep his mind off things.

"If you're swamped I'm happy to give you a hand." She said sweetly as she looked back at the house.

"You may want to get a new door." Zoë said as she raised her eyebrows, seeing the deep grooves in the door where the male had tried to get in with a crow-bar. Horatio took a deep breath and looked at the door and nodded.

"Thank you Zoë." Horatio said looking back round to her, subtly admiring her physique in her tight jogging clothing. 'I'd give anything just to hold her…' Horatio thought. 'At least she's managed to tone herself up and put some weight on.' Horatio thought to himself, remembering just how skinny and frail she was when she got back from the hospital.

"Not a problem." She said with a smile as she looked round to the officers as they were just about to leave.

"Thank you." Zoë said with a smile as they turned around and gave her a nod. Horatio gave them a small smile. Horatio swallowed, he felt his burning desire for her in every muscle.

"How are you Zoë?" He questioned, wanting to know everything that was going on with her, wanting to know that she was alright and generally wanting to talk with her.

"I'm good, thanks Horatio." He said, a little confused, hearing the intensity in his voice and sensing his need to know.

"How about you? Are you okay?" She questioned, seeing Horatio's behaviour change. He nodded and gave her a small, forced smile. She gave him a sweet smile, not seeing the tremendous effort to cover up his feelings and his forced smile.

"Anyway, I need to get back to my run." She said with a smile. Horatio gave her a hesitant nod.

"I thought you jogged up the beach?" He questioned, wanting more conversation with her.

"Yeah, I thought I'd give it a change though." She said with a smile as they walked towards his back gate. Horatio nodded again and gave her a small smile.

"I'll see you later." She said with a smile as she stepped back out onto the beach.

"See you later and thank you again." Horatio said as he looked down the beach.

"Not a problem." She said as she gave him a brilliant smile and then began to jog back down the beach. Horatio watched her for a moment and then went back indoors. Not quite believing what had just happened.

'Well, at least I'm back and away from work.' He thought to himself as he threw his keys into the bowl that sat on the table by the front door and set his gun down beside them. He wasn't sure what to do with himself so he made some dinner and got on with some extra work.

Zoë had gotten back from her jog and had a shower before going out to pick up a few things from the shop.

Zoë was casually doing her shopping at her local supermarket and was heading for the check out when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Nathan standing there with a wide smile on his face.

"Nathan! How are you?" She asked with a wide smile.

"I'm really good thank you Zoë, how about yourself?" He questioned, happy to see her out.

"Yeah, I'm really good thank you. What are you doing here?" She questioned, thinking Nathan lived quite a way away.

"Shopping…" Nathan said with a cheeky smile.

"I know you're shopping… I mean what are you doing here?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh, sorry Zo, I thought I'd give my local a miss, they've recently been overtaken by another chain and their prices are sky high for poorer quality, this isn't too far from me anyway." Nathan said as Zoë leant on her trolley, smiling at him.

"Ah, fair enough!" She said with a smile.

"Anyway, do you have time to catch a coffee?" Nathan asked sweetly.

"Yeah, plenty of time" Zoë said with a smile, oblivious to his attraction to her. Nathan grinned at her and got in the queue with her. They put their bags in their cars and then went over to a local coffee house. They queued up while they casually spoke to each other. Nathan admired her natural smile and took it in as he didn't see her often.

"I'll get this." Nathan said as he handed the money to the cashier.

"Nathan, no, you don't have to do that." She said looking up at him sweetly.

"Too late, I've already done it. Anyway, my treat" Nathan said softly as he smiled at her, affectionately.

"Thank you." She said sweetly as they went to sit down to wait for their coffee to be handed to them.

"How have you been anyway?" Nathan asked softly as he sat down.

"I've been good, everything seems to be okay. I still can't do up my joggers but it's getting easier to accept that I can't do it even though I still feel like an idiot. I can't even do lace up shoes, I have to slip them on and keep them tied when I take them off." She said softly.

"You're not an idiot and sometimes these things happen. You'll get used to it." Nathan said softly and she nodded at him with a smile.

"How's work going? Missing having your favourite patient?" Zoë questioned with a smile.

"Work's good, hectic but it wouldn't be right if it was easy. Hmm, I have to say that I'm happy you've not been a patient of mine lately, but I mean that in a nice way…" Nathan said softly and then looked round as their coffee was brought to them.

"Thank you" they both said and looked back at each other.

"I'm glad I've not been back in there, for me and the team, we've been accident free for some time now! But I don't want to jinx it!" Zoë said and then realised she'd jinxed it.

"You already have… who shall I expect to be seeing?" Nathan questioned with a chuckle.

"Hopefully no-one!" She chuckled with him. No matter how many signs he gave her, she still wasn't picking up on his attraction to her.

"You know, it's good to see you outside of that hospital and in something other than a suit and shirt." She said softly.

"You look completely different in casual attire." She said observing his clothes.

"Is it a good look or a bad look?" He questioned with a cheeky smile.

"A good look" She said softly with a shy smile.

"And I love your vans, I want a pair like that!" She said looking down at his red plimsolls.

"I didn't realise you were such a well-dressed person… look at you with your vans, your French-Connection jeans and your Ralf-Lauren polo. You put me to shame." She grinned as she then took a sip of her coffee. Nathan chuckled.

"What did you think I wore?" Nathan questioned, curious.

"Well, I thought that you were either like Horatio – literally live in your suits or that you just wore scruffy tops and jeans." She said with a grin. Nathan chuckled again.

"I bet if I took a look in your wardrobe, there would be millions of branded items of clothing… I bet you'd put me to shame." Nathan said with a smile.

"Hmmm… you mean a full walk-in wardrobe filled to the brim?" She said with a grin.

"Ahh, why did I not assume that? I bet you've got a full set of draws as well." Nathan questioned with a chuckle.

"You're right." Zoë chuckled. "I know I have too many clothes, but I have to buy something if it's cute or if I like it. I think there's even some clothes in there that I've never worn." She said with a smile.

"I bet there is." Nathan chuckled. 'Does she like me? Does she know I like her? Why have these feelings come back now? I'd lost those feelings for her. Is it just because I've seen her outside of the hospital? Perhaps there could be something between us, she's the only woman I've had my eyes on properly. But I can't… unless…' Nathan thought to himself.

"How about I introduce you to some other lovely doctors, that way you won't have to see my ugly mug at the hospital every time. I could help you build up their trust. That way I wouldn't have to treat you again." Nathan said warmly and she giggled lightly.

"Why? I'm comfortable with you. You're unique, I've never got so close to a doctor before, or trusted one." She said with a mild frown.

"It was just a thought, some other doctors might do you good?" Nathan asked quietly.

"No, they won't. In 27 years in my life, you're the only one who I trust. I've tried getting to know other doctors, I've had my best friend stand by my side and introduce me to doctors, I've known doctors up in New York years, yet I still can't even be in the same room as them unless I'm sedated or out of it for some other reason. You're literally the only doctor ever to be able to get close to me apart from Alexx. Other doctors wouldn't do me any good at all." Zoë said honestly as she looked at him and bit his lip. He nodded softly with a gentle smile. 'At least a friendship with her is something I'm happy to have, but perhaps I could persuade her to get to know another doctor, then they could take over her care when she's in, that wouldn't put me in trouble at all. I'm sure that my feelings would disappear as soon as she's out of my sight anyway.' Nathan thought to himself.

They carried on chatting and before they knew it the shop was closing for the night.

"It's 8.30pm already? I should be off." Zoë said as they finished the last of their coffees. Zoë felt his foot move and then felt his leg against hers. Again, she didn't take this as a sign of attraction or a move, just that he moved his leg.

"Yes, I should be too." Nathan said once he didn't get a reaction from Zoë. They stood and walked out together.

"Thank you for the coffee Nathan, it was really good to catch up out of the hospital." She said softly, happy.

"Indeed it was, perhaps we should do it again sometime?" He asked.

"Yeah, that would be good." She said sweetly as he walked her back to her car.

"Fantastic, I'll see you soon then. Have a safe drive home." Nathan said with a smile as they stood by her car.

"You too, see you soon and thank you again." She said with a smile as she unlocked her car. He gave her another smile and she got in, again not seeing his affection and not realising that he wanted more than a simple goodbye.

"Bye Zo."

"Bye sweetie." She said softly and he then walked away after giving her a smile, he was happy with her calling him sweetie. He walked back to his car, happy with himself, he'd managed to get closer to her and thought he was getting somewhere with her, she definitely relaxed around him and became herself.

She got home and put her shopping away with a smile on her face. 'I didn't realise he was so relaxed and 'boyish'…' She thought to herself as she put the shopping away. 'He looks so young without his suit as well…' She grinned as she put the orange juice in the fridge. 'I always knew he was a gentleman though and so sweet.' She thought and then put her dinner on. She ate and then got into bed with a book. She then received a text off him and they continued to text for a little while until Zoë fell asleep with her phone on her chest.

Both Horatio and Zoe woke up the next day and drove into work, that previous night, some patrol officers had picked up a man for dangerous drink driving and whilst under the influence of drugs confessed to the brutal murder of the woman the day before, claiming he kept her eye for sentimental value and to remind him of his first kill.

They were almost immediately called out to a case, where a body had been found in a warehouse just dumped, the victim was a middle aged, skinny woman. It was clear that this was not the primary scene. Eric was a little late, by the time he got there, Zoe and Ryan had almost photographed and processed everything while Walter looked around the perimeter, looking for anything out of place. Horatio was stood by the body, looking down at it and then looking around every now and then.

Walter came back in to the warehouse holding a revolver.

"Hey, I found this tossed in some bushes just outside." Zoe looked up at Walter and Ryan walked over. Horatio studied the gun from where he stood.

"Are there any spent rounds?" Horatio asked, taking his sunglasses off and holding them.

Walter checked and looked back up to Horatio "yeah, 3." He said looking at him.

"There's 3 bullet holes in our vic here." Alexx said as she looked up at Walter.

"How long has she been here for?" Zoe asked, glancing up at Alexx.

"My guess is a day and a half honey." Alexx said looking to Zoë, tenderly.

"Have we got any ID yet, Alexx?" Horatio asked, looking down at them as he held his sunglasses in his hands.

"No Horatio, I didn't find any ID on her" Alexx said softly and then looked back down at the body.

"Wait…" Zoe said as she moved up to the victims shoulder.

"What's that?" Zoe asked as she pointed to the vics left breast where her low cut top finished.

Alexx moved up and pulled a credit card out of her top.

"Good spot Zoe." Alexx said as she looked at the card. "It's just like another pocket, I do it all the time." She said with a smile as Ryan looked over at her, remembering pulling her phone out of her bra once.

"What?" She asked sarcastically, addressing Ryan who looked at her peculiarly.

"Sally Goodshaw" Alexx said as she handed the card to Ryan.

"Find out where Miss Goodshaw lived and worked." Horatio said as he made his way to his hummer.

Zoe stood up and looked around after finishing picking the evidence up from around the body.

She made her way over to a low wall, Horatio stopped and turned hearing her footsteps echo throughout the warehouse, he knew that walk just by hearing it. She'd seen something.

He made his way over to her and Ryan walked over to them as Walter stood by the body, looking down at the decomposing body.

"There's paint transfer and tyre marks." Zoe said as she crouched down and began to photo the tyre treads.

"It's a BMW Z4" she said as she stood up looking at the both of them.

"I had no idea you were a car and tyre expert." Ryan said with a grin, impressed.

"I'm not; I'm quite far from it. I know because we used to have one, actually I've still got it." She said looking at them. "I'd recognise those tyre marks anywhere. Mike had a habit of accelerating out of the garage back in New York too fast. I cannot tell you how many people I hired to get rid of them time and time again." She said as she laughed and walked over to get a few photos of the paint transfer.

"That reminds me, I should probably take it out of hibernation sometime." She said as she stood up and smiled at them.

"Where do you keep it?" Ryan asked with a chuckle.

"In a private garage, I don't want it in mine and I don't like leaving it on my drive. I was going to sell it, but I really couldn't tell you where or how I would sell it, I'm more than useless when it comes to cars." She said with a smile.

Horatio admired her as the wind gently blew her hair back.

"I'll er… I'll take it off your hands." Ryan said with a cheeky grin.

"You're welcome to it, but you've got a lovely car as it is…" She said looking at him with a smile.

"That's true." Ryan said looking down at the tyre marks.

"Anyway, I need to get this all back to the lab." She said as she turned around and began to walk over to the body to pick her kit up and then over to her hummer as Horatio and Ryan both watched her.

Horatio then moved and walked over to his hummer and Ryan eventually moved after watching her get into the hummer and put her seatbelt on. He got a sample of the paint and grabbed Walter and also headed back. Back at the lab they were all working hard.

Ryan got a hit on the gun and the owner also owned a BMW Z4.

"Looks like this one is in the bag, shall we go and give Mr Cullen a visit?" Zoe said as she leant on the back of his chair looking at the computer screen too. Horatio walked in and over to them.

"Mr Cullen? Is he our suspect?" Horatio asked. 'Look at how close she is to him, she may as well be sitting on his lap! Why isn't she like this with me? There's nothing I can do though, this is my fault, I didn't tell her so I deserve to get what is coming. I wonder if they're together? She seemed awfully happy this morning… Ryan wouldn't do that though, surely?' Horatio questioned.

"He is indeed." Ryan said as he got up, sensing Horatio's discomfort as Zoë was so close to him. As he got up, Zoe sat in his seat.

"This guy lives on Star Island, I never like that place." Zoe said as she got back up and gave Horatio a smile as she walked past him and through the door Ryan was holding open for her.

"Are you coming honey?" Zoe asked as she turned around.

"I am indeed." Horatio said as he too walked out. They each got into their respective hummers and radioed to Frank to join them.

They went over with a patrol car in tow as well as Frank.

They pulled up outside and Horatio got out of his hummer first and stood there, looking at the house.

Zoe and Ryan walked over to him. Zoe made contact with his arm with hers as she studied the house too.

Frank got out of his car and walked over to them.

"Doesn't seem to be any sign of life" Frank said looking at Horatio.

"Well, we should go and check then." Horatio said as he put his sunglasses on and made his way up the path followed by Ryan and Zoe, then by Frank and the two patrol officers who waited at the end of the path. They knocked but had no response, Ryan tried the door handle and it was open. They drew their weapons and cautiously entered, searching the entire bottom floor before Horatio, Zoë and Ryan went upstairs. Horatio walked into a large bedroom and Zoë covered his back, they walked in and saw an en-suite in the corner with the door slightly ajar. Horatio stood beside Zoë as they approached the door. They got closer and she kicked the door open gently, the light was off and they couldn't see anything in the bathroom as it was pitch black.