Disclaimer : I dont own nothing. I aint making a profit. Legal action would be completely unnecessary.
My apologies in advance, first story for this show. First story ever written period. And I have a tendency to leave out apostrophes.
Chapter 1 - Self Preservation
Boy, am I in a pickle. 13 cases covered up. 8 of them cold, unsolved. 5 of them have the wrong man behind bars. Oh, what have I done? I was simply trying to protect my family. My brother. But now, this is completely out of hand. Arthur, you idiot! Look what you've done to me. For 5 years I busted my balls to keep this secret. If only I had never been there, the day they showed up.
5 years ago...
Conrad Ecklie stood in a poorly furnished kitchen, glaring down at what seemed to be a broken man, who could be his twin, if it werent for his sandy brown hair and taller stature. The worried man lifted his head, and with anguished eyes, he begged to Conrad.
"Connie? Please.." he pleaded. Conrad just scoffed.
"Cut the crap Arthur! Did you really think you could just fuck with their money? And that they would just let it slide?" Conrad snapped. Arthurs face paled, and he swallowed hard.
"It wasnt just the money, Bub." He trailed off.
"For fucks sake, Art, drugs too?" Conrad asked. Arthur looked up at him, tears in his eyes, and nodded his head. Conrad threw his hands up, and began to frantically pace the kitchen.
"Well what the hell are you gonna do? Do you understand what these people are gonna do to you if they get their hands on you?" Conrad all but shrieked at his brother. However, Arthurs answer was cut off by a rustling sound outside. The brothers stared at eachother, frozen in fear. Neither did they move when the back door crashed in, and 3 men of latino descent entered brandishing guns.
And it was at the time, Conrad made an offer, that could cost his life and his career, for his brothers immunity.
Of course Im glad I was there. They surely would have killed him on the spot. Besides I had to do something, Im all hes got. Even if sometimes he seems like more trouble than hes worth. He was a brilliant kid, puzzles, math, he could have had a great future. But its Vegas, and when your not too terrible at counting cards, the chance to make the easy money is alot more alluring. But he got lazy, and greedy. He dragged me through the dirt with him.
All these lies. A tangled web of lies. My job, my life, my everything, seconds away from falling apart. Because some crackpot forgot to call in his motherfucking crime! So my dayshift cant touch it. No, its going to go to his CSI's. His eager to please, ready to solve, cover every possible angle, follow the evidence CSI's. And they will follow the evidence, follow it to another case, and another case, and another case, all with one thing in common: my name. Because when they get there they will see the obvious gang connections. Cross referrence that with other cases, and everything will unravel. And theres a snowballs chance in hell that I will be able to break one of them. They wouldnt want to risk Grissom finding out. No, they have to make daddy proud. But I have to do something, something to distract them. Something to cripple him.
But how do you cripple a man? You must take away what is most precious to him. His women. I know now what I must do. To protect myself. Self-preserverance. The lengths a man will go to protect himself are boundless. But if this falls wide open, they wont just kill Arthur, they will kill me too. I have to call Ignacio, its the only way I know how to contact any of them, ever since that night, 3 weeks after I made that deal.
4 years and 49 weeks ago...
Conrad sat in his car, fumbling through is pockets for his wallet. 'After a day like this, I need some beer,' he thought. He sighed and opened his car door, and stood up to see if his wallet might have fallen onto the seat. He didnt see the man approach him from behind, knife in hand. Conrad grabbed his wallet from off the seat and turn to see the man waving the blade threateningly. The man quickly closed the distance between them, and pressed the tip into Conrads stomach, not enough to break skin but enough to remind him how sharp it was. He snatched the wallet from Conrads hands, and opened it to see how much money he had just picked, when he noticed the ID. The man paled and stepped back, putting the knife down.
"S-s-senor Ecklie," he stuttered,"I am so sorry. I-I-I-I didnt know it was you, sir." Conrads face slowly twisted into a smug grin, but he was soon destracted by a new presence.
"Hey, is everything alright out here?" It was the owner of the liquor store. Conrad thought for a second then pulled the other man closer to him, and kept his arm around the mans shoulders, his grin turning into a full blown smile.
"Not at all. Hes an old college buddy from out of town." The owner looked down at the knife in the other mans hand, and back up at Conrad.
"Oh that," Conrad said, forcing a laugh, "He always did get a little out of hand with his pranks. Dirty little fucker. But hes harmless, except to maybe your ego."
"I always said your just too damn serious," The man spoke up, playing along, "You need to lighten up sometimes." The man laughed, Conrad looked at him, still smiling. The owner looked at them skeptically, but went back inside. His eyes never leaving them.
Conrad looked to the other man, motioned to the car and told him to get in. They pulled out of the parking lot and drove 3 blocks in silence.
Suddenly Conrad asks, "So where can I take you? You're already in the car, I might as well as drop you off where ever you were heading before you tried to rob me."
The man turned to face Conrad, looked visibly shaken. "I'm terribly about that, sir. Thank you. For lying to that clerk."
"Its fine, dont worry about it. So, do you have a name? You know mine, its only fair you tell me yours."
"It's Ignacio."
After that encounter, I learned alot. That they didnt just pardon Arthur and grant him immunity, but that it was extended to me aswell. That they had every intention of using what I had to offer, and as such didnt want to jeopardize that by upsetting me. By things like I dunno, petty theft. And so we established a set of terms and conditions. The first being I dont condone gang violence. The second being, if however they do end up committing an act of robbery or murder, theres a certain time frame with which the authorities need to be notified. I made it specifically clear that if the case lands outside of dayshift, theres nothing I could do about it. And back then, if that had happend, it wouldnt be such a big deal. My involvement so minimal, would have been easy to cover up. But not five years later. And ofcourse now is prime time to fuck up, when it screws everyone involved.
I pick up my phone and dial Ignacio's number. He answers almost immediately. "Buenos noches, Conrad," he says cordially, "How can I be of service to you at this hour?"
It takes everything I have not to fly into a screaming fit. "Somebody fucked up bad amigo. One of your boys neglected to follow regulations, and now I cant help you guys."
"Dont worry, Im sure we can handle this one ourselves." He didnt sound the least bit concerned. I dont think he understands.
"Ignacio, I dont think you get it. The team your up against isnt a group of idiots. No, far from it. They wont just solve the case, they will solve the why, connect it to you and your boys, connect it to me. So I am worrying. I am worrying a whole fuckton!" There was a few moments of silence.
"I see," he said calmly, "Well Conrad, do you have any ideas or did you just call to scream at me?" If he was upset or worried he wasnt letting it show. I could hear him light something and slowly exhale.
"Yes, I do." My palms were starting to sweat. I tried to calm myself with a few deep breaths.
"And what, exactly, is your idea?" He sounded mildly irritated now.
"You're going to have to take out Sara Sidle and Catherine Willows."
Oh God, what have I done?
That wasnt too bad. This definately wont be from Ecklies POV the whole time. Actually, next chapter will be 3rd person so... yea. Fun part is next.