A/N: This is my first CSI fanfic. I had been thinking of this for awhile and finally decided to write it down. I hope you all like it. Please review and tell me what you think. Any and all suggestions are welcome because I would like to make this as good as I can. Please read and review!
If you are reading this for the first time then I wanted to let you know that I got a beta after chapter 2 so the writing gets better after that.
Summary: A young woman and her family are the latest victims of a serial killer. She has a personal connection to two CSIs but which ones are they? Read on and you will eventually find out.
It was a rather slow night in the Las Vegas Crime Lab. The swing and night shifts had been working together on the case of a serial killer who was murdering wealthy families in their home. Before he killed the women he would rape them while he forced the men to watch. He would then strangle and stab the women after he raped them and then slit the men's throats. They had investigated all of the leads they had and were left in yet another dead end. Since there were no more leads to investigate they would have to wait until the killer struck again and hope he got sloppy and left a clue that would lead to his capture.
Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Sara, and Greg were all sitting around the table in the break room going over the evidence and hoping maybe they missed something that would finally break the case. Of course there was nothing since they had gone over everything several times already. Nick was the first one to break the silence, "This is hopeless. We're never going to catch this guy."
Warrick responded, "Yeah. It sucks we're going to have to wait until he strikes again."
Just then Grissom's phone rang. "Grissom" he said as he answered. After a moment he said, "Ok. Thanks Brass. We'll be right there." Everyone turned toward him with questioning looks on their faces. "Well it looks like that wait is over. Another couple was found at 1037 Victoria Lane. Brass said the scene is a mess so I need everyone on this one. Let's hope he screwed up this time."
"That would be nice." Catherine said as she pushed back from the table and stood up. "I will be glad when this one is over."
"I think we all will be." Sara said as everyone else got up and headed out the door.
Once they arrived at the scene they climbed out of their SUVs and got their kits. Brass approached the group and said, "Our killer strikes again. It is a real mess in there. The victims are Joe and Silvia Miller. The next door neighbor Cassandra Jenkins had used a spare key to enter the house after the Millers failed to show up for a dinner party and didn't answer their phone. She discovered the bodies in the master bedroom. Mrs. Jenkins had said as soon as she found them she ran out of the house and called us."
"Alright then." Grissom said. "Warrick and Nick you take the perimeter. Sara and Greg you talk to Mrs. Jenkins and anyone else that might have seen or heard anything. Catherine and I will take the inside."
Sara and Greg approached Mrs. Jenkins who was standing near Brass' car. "Hello Mrs. Jenkins. My name is Sara Sidle and this is my colleague Greg Sanders. We're with the Crime Lab and we were hoping to ask you a few questions."
"Please call me Cassie and I'll be glad to help in anyway that I can." Mrs. Jenkins said with her voice shaking. "The Millers were our best friends. They are great people. I can't believe this happened to them. They have been our next door neighbors for over ten years."
"Cassie, did the Millers have any enemies or anyone angry with them?" Greg questioned.
"No. Like I said they were the greatest. Always helping out when anyone asked them for a favor and never asked for anything in return."
"We're they expecting any visitors this evening?" Sara asked.
"Not that I was aware of. I had talked to Silvia this afternoon on the phone and she didn't mention anything. She had…" Cassis stopped abruptly and gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Are you okay Cassie?" Greg asked, wondering what caused her to respond that way.
"It's just…I mean…I can't believe I didn't think of it before."
"What Cassie?" Sara asked. "Anything you can tell us will help our investigation."
"Where's Alex? Was she hurt too? Did you find her?" Cassie's voice was now filled with concern.
"Who's Alex?" Sara questioned.
"She's Joe's and Silvia's daughter. Well, they were Alex's foster parents for a year. They were going to adopt her but were having problems with the paper work and then Alex turned 18. Alex just finished her junior year of college and was going to stay with Joe and Silvia for the summer. They still considered Alex their daughter even though it was never made legal. She's even named as their sole beneficiary in their will. I hadn't seen Alex yet but Silvia told me she got home last night." Cassie then repeated her previous questions. "Did you find her? Is she okay?"
"I am sorry but the only people in the house were the Millers." Sara paused. "Cassie please calm down. I know this must be hard for you but we need to ask you a few more questions. What was Alex's full name?"
"Alexandra Miller. She changed her last name after she turned 18."
Greg then asked, "Can you tell us what she looked like?"
"Um. She's about 5 feet 9 inches tall. She has long strawberry blond hair. Blue eyes I think. She's was pretty thin, I am guessing she weighed around 125 pounds. Joe and Silvia had a picture of her on their mantel. She has shorter hair in the picture but I am pretty sure it is the most recent one they had. She also did a bit of modeling so she may have a portfolio around somewhere if you need more pictures."
Sara had been taking down the information Mrs. Jenkins had given them. "Thanks Cassie. We'll be in touch if we find out where Alexandra is and if we need anything more." Sara then turned to Greg. "Let's go inside and find that picture of Alexandra so we can get her picture circulating and find her." Sara and Greg entered the house to find Grissom hunched over, dusting a door for fingerprints.
"Grissom." Greg said. Grissom stopped what he was doing and stood up to face Sara and Greg.
"Did you find out anything from the neighbor?"
"Yeah. We did." Greg answered. "It turns out that the Millers had a daughter that arrived home last night from school to spend the summer with them."
"Brass didn't mention a daughter." Grissom said.
"Her name is Alexandra Miller and the Millers were actually her foster parents for a year and then she went away to college but she still lived with them when she wasn't at school." Sara told him. "Mrs. Jenkins had told us they kept a picture of her on her mantel. We came in to get it so we can get a search for her going and get her picture out there. If we're lucky we may have a living witness out there."
"Alright. You can get the picture and then get Nick and Warrick and let them know what is going on. As usual our perp didn't leave us much to work with here so Alexandra may be the break we have been waiting for. Catherine and I will stay here to gather the little evidence that there is. Call me and keep me updated."
Sara and Greg found the picture and left the house and ran into Nick and Warrick and told them what they found out. Sara then went up to Brass with the picture of Alexandra. "Hey Brass. We have a missing person to add to the case."
"The Miller's daughter right? I just found out about her from Mrs. Jenkins. Did you get the picture?"
"Yeah. Right here." Sara then handed the picture to Brass.
"I'll get this going around and let everyone know this is top priority. We may not have much time to find her alive if out perp got to her too. You four can start searching in the woods behind the house."
"Alright." Warrick said. "Let's go guys." Not much encouragement or instruction was really needed. Everyone knew how important Alexandra may be to finally breaking the case and how little time they may have to find her alive if she wasn't already dead. Warrick, Nick, Sara, and Greg had lined up along the edge of the woods along with some officers to start the search grid. It was still dark out so they all had their flashlights out going back and fourth and they walked searching for even the tiniest clue of Alexandra's whereabouts.
It had been about twenty minutes since they began the search when Nick and Sara heard a faint crying sound. They glanced at each other and by the look they saw on each others face they knew each other had both heard the same thing. They listened for it again. "Over here." Nick said as he pointed to the left and grabbed Sara's arm to guide her in the direction he heard the sound from. About thirty seconds later Nick's flashlight shone upon a figure sitting against a tree with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head down. Her body shook from the quite sobs she cried. "Alexandra?" Nick asked softly as he held his light and reached to put a hand on her shoulder.
It seemed as soon as Nick touched the girl she suddenly became aware of Nick and Sara and jumped and looked towards them with a look of sheer terror on her face. She quickly stood up and shouted at them, "GET AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She then turned away and started to run away from them but she was only able to take a few steps before Nick got in front of her. He put his hands up on her shoulders to stop her. "LET ME GO!" The girl shouted as she tried to get away. Nick didn't have a strong grip on her but she was weak and unable to move away. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
Nick asked, "Are you Alexandra Miller?"
Near being hysterical, the girl choked out, "How do you know me? Who are you?"
My name is Nick Stokes and this is Sara Sidle." Nick said as he gestured and pointed his flashlight towards where Sara was standing behind Alexandra. "We're from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. We were looking for you and we are here to help you." Nick dropped his hands from her shoulders.
"Why do you want to help me?" Alexandra asked quietly.
"Because that's part of our job." Sara answered.
"Why don't you follow us out of here and we can get you some help." Nick offered as the young woman appeared to have several injuries.
"Okay." Alexandra answered quietly as she started to sway a bit. She then fainted but before she could hit the ground Nick caught her in his arms and picked her up. She was already starting to come to and started to moan a bit. "It's okay. I got you." With Nick carrying Alexandra, Sara used her flashlight to guide them out of the Woods.
"We need some help here!" Sara shouted as they emerged from the woods and walked around to the front of the house. "We found Alexandra and she's hurt."
Nick carried Alexandra over to the ambulance where the paramedics were taking the stretcher out of the back. Nick then gently laid Alexandra down on the stretcher and stepped back to let the paramedics tend to her. "I don't want to go to the hospital. I hate it there." Alexandra cried.
"You have some pretty bad cuts that are going to need stitches and you need to get checked out by a doctor." One of the paramedics said to her.
"But I don't want to go!" Alexandra shouted as she was getting upset again and sat up and moved to get off the stretcher. A paramedic stopped her before she could get off.
"You really need to go." The paramedic said.
"NO!" Alexandra shouted again.
Sara then stepped up to stand to the right of Alexandra. Sara put her right hand on her shoulder and used her left hand to brush back some of Alexandra's hair. Alexandra seemed to calm down slightly and laid back down. "It's okay Alexandra. The paramedics just want to help you."
"I hate hospitals." Alexandra said quietly and turned her gaze away from Sara.
"How about if I go with you, will you go then?" Sara asked her.
"Fine. I'll go if you come with me." Alexandra said looking back at Sara.
"Let me go tell my boss I am going with you and then I will be right back."
"Okay." Alexandra said as she turned and stared at nothing in particular.
Sara walked over towards where Nick, Grissom, and Brass were standing and said, "Alexandra is refusing to go to the hospital unless I go with her. So I am going to go since we need to make sure they do a rape kit and to make sure they don't destroy any of our evidence."
Grissom then said, "Are you sure you want to do this? I can get someone else to go if you don't want to."
"Yeah. I'll be fine." Sara said
"Okay then. We are pretty much done here so come back to the lab when you are done at the hospital." Grissom told her.
"Alright." Sara said and then turned away and got her kit and went back to the ambulance. She climbed in next to Alexandra and then a paramedic shut the doors and walked around to the front and got in and a moment later the ambulance took off.
A/N: Again, I hoped you all like it. Please review so I know what you thought about it. I hope to have the next chapter up within a few days. I will be going away for the weekend so if I don't get it up before I leave I will post it as soon as I can when I get back. The more reviews I get the more motivated I will be to get it up faster (Hint, Hint).