Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of its characters. I am making no money off of this story. I just like to abuse them once in a while.
This is a beta free zone. All mistakes are my own. Please be kind.
All mistakes in procedure, etc are my own as well. They were bent or broken to make the story work.
Helpless
Chapter One
"Las Vegas PD Crime Lab, CSI Grissom and Stokes. We have a warrant to search these premises."
Clara stared at the two men standing on her front step in disbelief. It was the older man who'd spoken, holding out an official looking piece of paper for her to read as well as his badge. "What is this about?"
"Please, may we come in?" the younger man asked. His dark hair and dark eyes drew her in. He was gorgeous.
"Ah, sure." Clara stepped back into the entryway to allow them access to her two story house. The wood floors creaked under the men's weight. They were closely followed by a third man, a bad clipped to his jacket pocket. The other men had their badges clipped to chains around their necks. "I don't understand why you're here."
"We have reason o believe that this is the last place that Matt Williams was seen alive," the older man stated. Clara was ushered onto the front yard while the two men searched every nook and cranny of her house. They found no sign of physical evidence of the young man.
The victim had been discovered in one of the local water bodies. During the ensuing investigation it came to light that he had delivered groceries for Clara multiple times, including the day of his disappearance. Matt's vehicle had been found two blocks over, abandoned.
"Thanks, Brass," Grissom stated as he and Nick Stokes prepared to leave the house. He was disappointed that there were no overt signs of the victim but they had gathered samples to be analysed back at Central and one more piece of the puzzle had been placed.
"If there's anything I can do to help find Matt, please ask," Clara said. She'd caught hold of the younger man's arm as he left the house. She wasn't ready for him to leave yet.
Nick stopped and glanced at his boss, Gil Grissom. He'd planned to ask the woman some questions after they'd analysed the samples but she'd offered.
"I'll meet you back at the office," Gill responded. He knew he was breaking protocol but had ten other cases waiting on his desk for him. Nick handed his boss his kit and sample bags before following the dark haired woman through the heavy wooden door into the sitting room off to the left.
"Please, have a seat," Clara instructed. "I'll make some tea."
"That 's really not necessary," Nick assured the woman. She was about his age, thirty two, and was thin but had a mousy appearance to her. The sitting room was old fashioned and slightly musty. Cautiously, the CSI sat in an armchair perpendicular to the large over stuffed couch.
"I'll only take a few minutes," Clara responded. "Please indulge me."
Happily, the woman headed to her kitchen. He was nice, she could tell. Just like young Matt had been nice. It was so sad that he couldn't come to visit anymore. With practiced motions, Clara prepared two cups of tea and carried them in to where the handsome young man waited.
"Do you like cream or sugar?" Clara asked as she handed Nick his cup.
"No thanks. Black is fine." To be nice, he took a small sip of the bitter fluid. Tea was not his ball of wax. "Now, Miss Johnston, we know that Matt Williams delivered your groceries last Thursday at 3pm."
"Yes, he brought them every week. I don't like to go out much," Clara responded. The man had a faint scent of Old Spice, just like her dad.
"What time did he leave?" Nick's mouth had suddenly gone very dry. A few more swallows of tea didn't seem to help. "May I have a glass of water?"
"Is there something wrong with the tea?" Clara asked, concerned. The young man's face had grown both white and red at the same time.
"It's fine." Nick regretted having asked, her features had crumbled at any suggestion of inadequacy.
"As to your question, Matt always stayed long enough to help unpack. I gave him a tip for the extra work. I suppose it took about fifteen minutes." Shyly Clara looked into Nick's dark eyes. Her heart melted.
"If you don't mind my asking, why do you not go out much?" Nick was starting to feel a bit light headed. Distantly he hoped he wasn't coming down with the fly that had been making its way around the office.
"My daddy's a police officer. He tells me all about the types of people that are out there. I don't need to go out unless he's with me. I work on my computer, order online or over the phone." As Clara watched the handsome officer became more and more sickly looking. Absently, Nick took another sip of the quickly cooling tea. If anything it was even more bitter than before.
"Ah, look. I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to have to continue this another time," Nick began as he struggled to his feet. Even after getting thrown out of a second story window he hadn't felt this bad.
"Are you all right?" Clara asked. She moved to check on the man but in reality she was trying to physically block his exit out of the room and the house.
"No, I don't think I am." Gently, Nick tried to move beyond the smaller woman. In her concern, she kept stepping in front of him to look at his face.
"Is there anyone I should call?" Clara asked. Sweat had broken out on Nick's forehead. Any minute now.
In the sudden onset of his symptoms, Nick had forgotten all about his cell phone. Completely uncoordinated, he fumbled at his belt for the unit. Unhooked, it tumbled out of his nerveless fingers. A moment after it hit the ground, Nick's unconscious body joined it.
"I think you should stay for a while," Clara stated. Humming to herself, she pushed against the china cabinet until it had scuttled two feet to the right. With practiced ease, she placed the fireplace poker between two of the floor boards and pried up a section of flooring to reveal a black hole. Still humming, she slipped her hands under Nick's shoulders and began dragging him toward the hole. It was hard going but she was stronger than she looked. Clara paused long enough to relieve the CSI of his gun and car keys before sending him tumbling feet first into the great beyond.
A/N: Should I continue?