The sixth season of the Miami-based crime drama continues. This week, police hunt four fugitives who escaped from a van whilst being transported to prison. One of the escapees is Horatio’s son, who soon becomes a pawn in a deadly game.

Horatio is at court to witness the bail hearing of Kyle Harmon, the 16-year-old youth he fathered while working undercover (see the episode, ‘Dangerous Son’). The boy is remanded in custody for kidnapping and Horatio is alarmed to discover that, despite his age, he is being sent to a maximum-security facility.

Kyle is loaded onto a prison van with Julio Rentoria, a well-known drug dealer who tells his crowd of fans outside the court that he will pay $2million to whoever busts him out of jail. “Julio Rentoria – thinks he’s the modern Jesse James,” says Tripp. Horatio is uneasy about the attention Julio is receiving and asks Tripp to ride along in the van. His fears prove to be well founded when a pickup truck crashes into the van and a mob desperate to claim the $2million descends on the scene. In the confusion, the four prisoners escape and Tripp accidentally shoots a female bystander.

It looks like Tripp could be facing a suspension, until lab tests prove the bullet that killed the woman did not come from his gun. Instead the bullet is matched to a pistol owned by one Barry Slater, who denies shooting the victim and says that he lost his weapon at the scene. He also claims one of the fugitives stole his motorbike. This part of his story is confirmed when the bike is found in the possession of Oscar Monahan, one of the four missing men.

The theft of the bike is a third offence for Oscar, which means he could be facing a long stint in jail. Proving he stole the bike should be simple work for the CSIs, as his fingerprints are all over the keys. But Oscar’s lawyer accuses the CSIs of bungling the processing of evidence. He has an expert witness who can prove that Natalia did not take the keys straight to the lab for testing – she stopped off at a firing range first. That expert witness is none other than Ryan Wolfe, who is now working for the defence.

A gobsmacked Natalia realises that Ryan was the one who arranged her appointment at the firing range in the first place. Did he set her up? Ryan denies it, but Natalia’s mistake could ruin the case against Oscar. State prosecutor Rebecca Nevins has only one solution. “We discredit Ryan, I may still have a case against Oscar,” she says. Will Natalia get her own back on her erstwhile colleague? And just who killed the woman at the scene?

Meanwhile, Horatio is on the hunt for the other three fugitives. He is relieved when Kyle turns himself in at the police station, and reluctantly transports the boy to prison. Calleigh and Eric also make progress in locating Julio Rentoria and his pal Trevor Battle when they learn that the pair escaped in an SUV. According to witnesses, the vehicle was either red or blue. Eric establishes that the car was in fact coated with a new type of paint, which changes colour according to the angle.

The CSIs track the vehicle down to its owner, who admits giving the felons a ride, only for them to double-cross him. Further detective work leads them to believe Julio and Trevor are now holed up in a warehouse. Horatio arrives at the scene only to be confronted by Trevor, who warns him that they have a hostage – Kyle Harmon. “That kid is back in custody,” Horatio says. “Yeah – and that’s exactly where we’re gonna kill him!” Trevor replies. Julio and his gang have figured out Kyle’s connection to Horatio and someone inside the jail is going to use it to their advantage. Can Horatio thwart their plan in time?