A/N: This story written as school assignment, I know you're all jealous of me lolz Mrs.Eads! Hence the CSI-unobssesed-version. Major spoilers for Gum Drops(605) & perhaps other minor spoilers. If you have'nt seen Gum Drops, you might not quite understand most of the story, I recommend you watch it first. Please R & R, you know it makes my world go round! Story dedicated to writers for Butterflyed & Play With Fire for GSR angst (which starts off snickeys!) and I Like To Watch & The one where we finnaly see Tina, for Tina/Warrick angst (Which sets off YoBling!)
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Kit-Kats Are Better: Gum Drops Part 2"They came to...my house. They had a fight. They could'nt find what they were looking for." 10 year old Cassie McBride whispered slowly. "I heard...a noise. A loud noise. Then, more noises. Two more. Loud noises. I heard my dad yell, them mom screamed. I heard a thud. Then..." She gulped. "I heard someone coming upstairs. I hid under the bed, and Lizzy hid in the trapdoor in the closet. Peter came int..." The child was cut off by Nick's sharp reply. "Lizzy?" Cassie glanced at him slowly. "Yeah, Lizzy. My cousin. She's 11. She was sleeping over. You did'nt find her?" Cassie asked, quickly becoming agiatated. "No, only Jeremy and your parents were recovered. Was she drugged too?" He asked, pulling out his cellphone. Cassie thought for a moment before replying. "No, I did'nt see her after that. Those men did'nt find her. No one ever finds us when we hide in the trapdoor. No one knows about it but Me, Lizzy and Jeremy. It's a secret, like daddy's garden." "Okay, Cassie. Try to get some sleep, I'll be back soon." He said, standing up and walking towards the door. "Nick...please find her..." Came a small, hoarse voice from across the room. He glanced back at her small frame, attached to wires and machines everywhere. "I will." He whispered, turning around.
He flipped open the phone, and hit speed dial #1. Sara's sleepy voice answered after several rings. "Hello?" "Sara, sorry to wake you, but we got a problem. There was another girl there." He said quickly, running to his Departement-Issue Tan/Silver Denali Yukon. "What? Where?" She asked, slowly waking up. "At the McBride house, there was another kid in Cassie's room!" Her eyes snapped open. "What? We did'nt find any evidence of another child living there!" She replied. "She was Cassie's cousin, sleeping over. Cassie says she hid in a trapdoor!" Nick explained starting his engine. "Okay, meet you at the house in 30!" Sara said, already awake and jumping out of bed. The two closed their phones and Sara hurried out of the house to her own Denali. As she started it, she heard Nick's voice on the police radio sending out an Amber Alert on a Lizzie McBride to dispatch.
Nick drove along Highway 31 at the maximum speed limit, glancing at each digital billboard along the way, each repeating the same information.
AMBER ALERT!
11 YR OLD LIZZY MCBRIDE, BROWN HAIR, GREEN EYES.
CONTACT NEVADA POLICE IMMEDIATELY
Sara arrived at the McBride house 30 minutes later, as promised, to find Nick's car already in the driveway. Sara jumped out as fast as she could, knowing Nick would probobly tear the place apart to find Lizzy if he was'ent stopped. "Nick!" She yelled, opening the door. Dried bloody footprints covered the entranceway, each decorated with a yellow evidence counter. Hearing no reply, she proceeded up the stairs to Cassie's room, where she found Nick rooting through the closet. "Nick!" She said, walking towards him. He glanced over at her. "For god's sake, Nicky! You're not even wearing gloves!" She scolded, pulling him away from the cherry-wood doors of the child's closet. He looked down at his hands. "Damn...Sorry, Sara..." He said, pulling out a pair from his vest. Sara shone her flashlight into the closet. Nick glanced at her. "I could'nt find anything in there, you see it?" He asked, coming up behind her to see as well. Her flashlight scanned the floor once again before she straightened up, grinning. "You know, my brother made me a trapdoor once. He could'nt put it in the floor, because there was not space there, so he made it against the side." She explained as she handed the flashlight to Nick and stepped inside the closet. She ran her hand along the wall, searching for the small knob. She grinned as she found it. "You better step back, Nicky." She warned. He stared at her strangely, but obeyed. She too moved out of the way as she pulled the knob out, uncovering a chain. She pulled again, and with a small whoosh, the door sprung out. "Ta'da!" She proclaimed, stepping back to allow Nick into the room. He grinned slightly at her expertise and poked his head inside the small door. His grin dissapeared. He shone the light around the room several times. "Sara...She's not in here!" He exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" She asked, her head appearing beside Nick's. She glanced around. Then she sniffed the air, and retreated her head. "Urine..." She stated. Nick shone the light towards the floor. Indeed, 3 small yellow spots decorated one corner. Nick withdrew his head, and stood up. "So...where is she?" He asked the air. Sara followed him. "Okay...If I was 11, and just hid for quite a while, where would I go to next?" She asked, looking around. Nick glanced at her. "Kitchen? I bet she was hungry!" Sara shook her head. "No, there were some candy wrappers on the floor in there, with some unopened ones." Sara walked toward's Cassie's corkboard on the wall. Pictures of Cassie swimming, Cassie & Jeremy playing tennis, Cassie chewing gum and...Sara's eyes came to rest on a picture that had fallen to the floor. She bent down to pick it up. Two giggling girls stood side by side, arms around eachother. Cassie had her ever-present strawberry Bubblicious in her mouth, and the other girl, which Sara assumed to be Lizzy, had a Kit-Kat hanging out of the side of her mouth. "She liked chocolate bars..." Sara informed Nick, as she spotted another picture of Lizzy with a Kit-Kat. Nick looked over to her, but he stopped when he noticed something. "Sara...The window's open." He said slowly, walking towards it. Sara turned to follow him. Nick pushed his head out the window, finding an emergency ladder hanging down the side of the house. He used his tweezers to lift a piece of garbadge flapping in the wind, stuck to the ladder. It was a kit-kat wrapper.
A K9 Unit truck appeared an hour later, followed by 2 more Denali's containing the rest of the CSI Graveyard Shift. After a short briefing, Nick went with the K9 unit while the other CSI's searched the house to see if she had snuck back into the house. Sara was walking towards her car to get some water. The Nevada heat always got to her more than the other CSI's. San Francisco was a lot cooler than Vegas, and even after 6 years, she still was'ent used to the change. A bright red foil wrapper caught her eye. It was swirling around alongside the dust. She bent to collect it before it blew away. "Hey!" She yelled to the K9 Unit. They all turned. She lifted the wrapper meaningfully. Nick whispered to the dog handler, and he nodded to Sara. The handler yanked on the leash, and moved the dogs towards Sara. The dogs obeyed, and immediately caught the scent. They were off, running towards the driveway where several police cars were parked. The dogs dodged the Denali and ran towards the centre of the driveway, where they turned in circles nonstop. The handler glanced up to the CSI's. "The scent pooled. Probably because of the cars..." He informed them. Nick groaned. "Okay, call them off." He walked over to Sara. "So, she could be anywhere. Anywhere at all." He sighed.
The team gathered after an unsucessful 4 grueling hours. Grissom started. "Please tell me we have something!" Everyone glanced at each other. Sara spoke after a moment of silence. "She was outside. She walked towards to the driveway. Then the scent pooled." She informed them. Sara looked around. "Okay then guys, let's head back." Nick walked Sara back to her Denali. Sara sat in the front seat facing Nick. "I can't believe we were so close. She was here while we were processing the house, and we did'nt even notice. She went through a lot less than Cassie, but yet we found Cassie and not her. I keep seeing that picture of her. I can even smell those kit-kats. She has to be close. I can feel her. But where is she?" Sara spoke sadly, looking towards the ground. Nick lifted her chin up. "I know where she is."
HOW DOES NICK KNOW?
SOLUTION:
Sara said she could smell kit-kats, but the scent had pooled. The dogs found that Lizzy had walked towards the Driveway, where the Denali was parked. Sara found the wrapper close to her Denali, but the wrapper was too heavy for the wind to carry far. Sara had jumped out too quickly to lock her door.
END:
Sara stared at him. "You do?" Nick smiled. "Yeah..." Sara was utterly confused. "Hey, Sara. What's your favourite type of candy?" He asked, grinning. Sara answered slowly, wondering if Nick had lost his mind. "Snickers." "I like Snickers too. What do you think of Snickers, Lizzy?" Nick replied, his head turned towards the back of Sara's seat. A small head protruded slowly out from behind it. "Kit-Kats are better."
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A/N: Hehes bet no one was expecting that! Onli really smart people figure out the Snickers connection...;) Very subtle Snickers, sorry bout that. I'll update 'I am' soon for you guys kkz? Thanx for reading everyone!
Happy Palm Sunday (in case you don't know why I always know holidays, I have a daily calender with Winnie the Pooh on it...;) )!
;)M/16
Read, Rave, Rant!