"Hi," a tall, slender teenage girl stood in front of the information desk in the Las Vegas Crime Lab. She smiled, some of her dark brown hair falling in front of her eyes. Shoving it back behind her ear, the girl continued, "I'm looking for Nick Stokes..." She bit her lip, nervously.
"He's out in the field, I think," the lady at the desk answered. She was short, with a friendly looking face. The girl relaxed.
"Um, okay," she said. "I'll just wait here..." She nodded, thanking the woman, and turned around to sit in one of the chairs on the opposite wall. Jesus, she thought. How am I gonna ask him?
Just as Nick was getting back from processing the home of a homicide victim, the loudspeaker came on, "Nick Stokes, you have a visitor at the main desk." He felt chills run up his spine. The last visitor he'd had at the lab had been the daughter of the man who'd kidnapped him a little over a year ago. Calming himself, he walked to the main entrance.
The woman at the desk pointed in the direction of a young girl with dark hair and a determined face. She got up as soon as Nick saw her.
"Mr. Stokes?" she asked shyly, the determined look on her face not changing. He nodded. "I'm Ashley..." she paused, as if not sure to share anything else.
Nick thought for a moment, wondering if he'd seen Ashley before. She reminded him of someone he knew a while back, but couldn't think of whom. "Hi, you can call me Nick." He held his hand out, and she shook it. "How can I help you?"
"Well," the girl said. "I don't know if you know, but my mother was murdered about a month ago..." Nick cocked his head, showing he didn't know. "My mom was Eileen Taylor. I assumed you two knew each other. Your name was the only one on her will besides mine."
"Wow," Nick's eyes widened. He saw a flash of a memory: a beautiful, blonde woman with blue eyes much like Ashley's. He heard laughter, and suddenly felt a touch on his arm. He looked down, and saw a small hand. Ashley was standing there, trying to comfort a man she'd never known.
Quietly, she whispered, "I'm sorry... I guess you two knew each other better than I thought." She took her hand back, and looked away.
"Ashley... why did you come here?" Nick asked. He was curious at what had happened, but was pained to think back to his and Eileen's friendship. It had lasted a couple years, and then he'd moved, and they'd never really kept touch. He hadn't imagined after sixteen years, that he would still remember her so well. And yet, he knew he couldn't forget her. Did she know I live in Vegas? He wondered, swallowing back the pain.
"I...," Ashley began. She wasn't quite sure how to ask him. "I came to ask you a favor. Well... and I came to tell you about my mom... she's the main reason I came."
Confused, Nick asked, "What is it?"
"I need you to take a DNA sample from me. And then I need you to run it through the database. See if you can get any partial matches," Ashley stated, without hesitation this time. She saw Nick make a strange face, and added, "If it's going to cost money, I have five hundred dollars with me. It's from birthdays and Christmases over the years..." She knew it sounded strange. How had she gotten this much money? But she also knew that she looked like, and was an honest person. She just hoped Nick would believe her.
"Why?" Nick asked, bewildered. The girl sounded anxious, almost scared.
"I want to find my father," was all Ashley answered with.
TBC
A/N: How was it? I plan to put the second chapter up very soon! I'm almost done with it. Should I continue?