Disclaimer: No profit is made from this work.
Authour's Notes: This is a work in progress, and currently we have about four chapters. This will start in Las Vegas, but will take place mostly in Miami.
It was a still, cold, hard rainy night for Las Vegas
It was a still, cold, hard rainy night for Las Vegas. Bright, yet somehow dim, lights danced through the pouring water from the skies to the ground. Catherine's boots sunk into the thick mud with a sloshing sound, Nick and Sofia's sloshing rearing behind her. They approached the liquor store relatively quickly, trying their best not to get soaked with slightly warm rain. The window in the front of the store was cracked, a small sized bullet penetrating through it, they noted. The lights were dim in the store, small pints of water made it inside as they all walked into the tiny building. Most things on the shelves seemed to be untouched and the cashiers counter looked clean as a fickle. Catherine thought this to be strange, usually when they were called out to liquor stores it was a small robbery and things were a mess and the cashiers counters was smashed with glass, blood usually trickling down to the floor and small scatters of money strewn on the counter. Sofia spotted Brass and made a small glance at Nick, her look portrayed words unspoken.
He nodded slightly at her as she made her way carefully over to him. Nick walked to the other side of the store as Catherine continued on in the opposite direction, the cashiers counter. She gingerly looked over the counter to find nothing but solid cleanliness. Her face depicted a small frown, something wasn't adding up. Her eyes continued on to the aisle to the side of the counter. She furrowed her brows in concentration, held her small flashlight to every can and bottle, looking for anything at all that might be out of place. She found nothing.
Sofia had just finished talking to her fellow boss and close friend when she heard a small, muffled sound from the back of the store. Her hand immediately went to her hip were her holster was on complete instinct. Nick had been wandering over to their direction when he noticed her action, and then, he too heard the muffled sound.
He signaled to Catherine and she swiftly walked over to them, her steps slightly cautious, but only so of possible evidence. Sofia started toward the back, Brass close on her heels followed by Nick and lastly, Catherine. A fairly small door lead to a narrow hallway and at the end of the dark lit and damp hall was a lone door. Another muffled sound was heard. Sofia sped up her pace and Brass took on a look of both hesitation and determination. They were silent. Sofia slowly reached for the handle, her gun ready in her hand just in case. The door swung open and all four were ready for whatever lay before them. They expected a dead body, a killer with a gun or knife, even a bomb, but they weren't expecting a small, huddled together man with petite glasses shivering a startled with frightened eyes. He took a deep breath of relief as he spotted their badges. They all lowered their weapons and Sofia quickly helped the poor man up. He wiped his clammy hands on the front legs on his pants and pushed his glasses up further his nose.
"Sir, are you the owner of this store?" Brass asked with authority.
The man nodded rapidly and his glasses slumped back down his nose. Brass nodded quickly and led the man back to the front of the store.
"Alright Sir, I'm gonna have my two CSI's take you outside and checked out by the paramedics and I would appreciate it if you would come down to the station with us and tell us what happened."
The man just nodded with a bob of his head and Catherine and Nick led him outside and into the rain. Catherine and Nick both took one of his arms and led him hastily toward a large car. The man shivered slightly as the hard rain trickled down his small nose and the two CSI's hurried him into the vehicle. Catherine sat beside him briefly and covered him with a thick flannel blanket.
"May I ask your name Sir?"
He nodded while bundling himself into the blanket.
"Gregory Heap ma'am and thank you for getting me out of there." He said kindly.
Catherine smiled at him genuinely, giving him a pat on the shoulder before she got up to move to the front seat.
They drove off in silence and left Brass and Sofia to the scene.
Sofia walked back to the front of the store, looking for anything at all that would make this crime make sense. She waved her flashlight down a small and narrow path directly in front of the hole in the glass window. She was about to move along, but a tiny glint of metal shone into her eye as the flashlights rays hit something. She walked carefully over to the small space, a little gap in between the cashiers counter and a candy rack. She skillfully knelt down and to her luck a small gold shell casing was wedged in between the small space.
She smiled in victory.
Catherine and Nick soon took care of Gregory; processed his clothes, took his statement, and sat him in front of a sketch artist to see if he could recall anything about the perpetrators.
It was dawning on late when Sofia returned to the lab, bullet casing in a small evidence bag, and a few other collections. It may have not been a lot, but at least they had something, and, Gregory.
Leave us a review and tell us what you think! Next chapter will take place in Miami. :)
x
Lani & Byrd