Okay, my lovely readers, this is my new story. To those of yo that have read "Watch out for the Wolfes", forget what you have read (I deleted the story anyways, because I didn't like it anymore, but I seriously love Nicole....). Nicole Ferguson, my beloved OC, is back, but her story is gonna be a little different this time, mainly that she isn't with Ryan here, and she isn't a criminalist, but your average detective. I'm sorry if that confuses you guys. I hope you still gonna like it. To those of you who haven't read my other story, this shouldn't be a problem...

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI Miami, or any of its characters. I do own this case though, and of course Nicole Ferguson. The title of this fic is a line from the Song "Magic" by the Pussycat Dolls. I don't own the music or the lyrics. The title of this chapter is a variation on the Spider Man theme song

Chapter One: Spider thief, Spider thief

It was early morning when Ryan Wolfe woke up. He noticed he had still half an hour to go before he had to get up and get ready for work. So he just cuddled more into his blanket and stared at the ceiling. He thought about the events last month, when he had saved his uncle, his mother, Miami (and probably the world) from those terrorists. His shoulder was alright again. He only felt some pain when he woke up, probably because he had been lying the whole night on it. But it was bearable. And after all, it hadn't been a high price to pay. His family was starting to get back together. Only yesterday, Ron had told him that he and Ann, his girlfriend, were going over to Boston for Thanksgiving. They had asked Ryan to come along, but… it was still a bit to early for lovely family parties. Maybe next year. He sighed. Instead of thinking such things, he could as well get up and clean the bathroom before taking a shower. That would be better than just lying here and wasting time.

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He arrived at work two hours later. He hadn't even made it to the lab when Horatio's call came in. DB in a house in South Beach. When Ryan got out of the car, he whistled. That was one fancy house! He walked in. It looked even bigger from the inside than from the outside. His whole family, including Ron and Ann and his sister with her husband and daughter, would fit in just nicely. He walked over to Natalia and Tara who were sitting next to the DB.

"If something ever happens to our lab, I know where we could find enough space for us to work…"

Natalia raised her head and looked around, "Yeah… Damn, this would be the right house to raise a family with… let's say 12 children…"

Tara, the new M.E., sighed, "Well, this family won't have 12 children in near future… without a mother…" She pointed at the body in front of her. It was a woman, obviously strangled to death. She was in her 30ies, long blond hair, blue eyes. Tara pointed at the marks on her neck, "I'm not really an expert on such things, but… if you ask me, the attacker was either very hesitant at first, or he was young and not very strong."

Ryan noticed what she meant, "Yeah, I can see. It seems that the attacker needed several attempts to finally get over with it. I can see…. 4 different lines. So he tried at least 4 times… Defensive wounds?"

Tara pointed at the hands of the victim, "Fingernails are broken, but no defensive wounds on her hands. You ask me, she was only trying to grab… whatever the attacker used to strangle her… and get it off her neck. I don't think she actually tried to get him off of her."

Natalia asked, "Any signs for…"

But Tara immediately shook her head, "No signs of sexual assault. Don't worry. At least she didn't have to suffer this."

Ryan looked around. The room didn't look like there had been a huge struggle. Everything was neat and clean, even he would have eaten from the floor. "Did Frank already talked to the husband? Was anything stolen?"

At that moment, Frank entered, "Indeed, there was. A ring."

Ryan raised his head, "Just one ring?"

Frank nodded, "White gold, one sapphire, two diamonds. It's the only thing missing. Now, we all know what this means…"

"Oh, yeah…" Ryan knew. "The Spider."

'The Spider'. No one knew who he was. It had started all about half a year ago. And since then, it had happened almost every week. 'The Spider' was a thief. No one knew anything about him. Ryan had been to several scenes. The Spider never had left anything behind. That's why the press thought he was some sort of a super hero. Already now the people of Miami made fun of the MDPD because they couldn't catch The Spider. But it was more difficult than they knew. Not only did The Spider never left any evidence behind, he also seemed to be able to climb any wall (that's why the press called him The Spider), because the only windows that showed signs of forced entry were always third or even forth floor windows. Another thing that made catching him so hard was the fact that he never stole much. He actually always stole just one thing, like, in the present case, one ring. Never money. And he never sold the things he stole. They just disappeared. And since they had no hint on who The Spider was, finding the stolen goods was nearly impossible…

"Yes, Ryan, The Spider." Frank said. "But that means, we finally have something. He couldn't have killed that woman without leaving trace behind. That's what you always say, isn't it?"

Natalia frowned, "I don't know… Frank, for all we know, The Spider has never, and I repeat, never attacked anyone at a crime scene. And some people have actually seen him. He never confronts people. He didn't even hurt the dogs at the houses he broke in. Sorry, but this just doesn't look like him. Attacking a woman."

"Nat, I've been in the business long time. People change. Maybe she caught him, and he just lost it."

"Look at her neck. That doesn't look like somebody's loosing it. It's too hesitant. If he had been loosing it, he probably wouldn't have strangled her. We know he uses a crowbar to get into the houses. He could have easily just knocked her out. Why strangle her then? Besides, she was strangled from behind. That doesn't look like she's actually seen him. No, sorry Frank, but I think you're way off here."

Frank looked at Natalia. He had to admit, what she said sounded convincing enough. And the CSIs were rarely mistaken. Still, he wanted this to be over. The Spider was making fun of the MDPD. And while Frank hoped they would get him soon, he wished to God that Natalia was right. If The Spider had actually killed that woman, the press would blame it on the police because they hadn't caught him earlier… and the police's reputation was shaky enough.

So he said, "Okay. You're sure right with that. Just do me a favour and prove it before the press finds out. I'm tired of dealing with them."

Now Natalia smiled, "We do our very best. Has the husband seen anything?"

"No. He woke up this morning, walked into the room and saw her lying on the floor. Then he noticed the ring was missing. Called 911. Here we are."

"Where is Nicole?" Natalia asked.

Nicole Ferguson, Detective with the MDPD, was the lead Detective on The Spider's case. Ryan had met her at every scene he had been too, and with every unsolved crime she had gone more and more ballistic. And Ryan was kind of afraid that now, since it looked as if The Spider had left his first DB behind, Ferguson would probably completely freak out.

Now Frank sighed and said, "I called her five minutes ago. She'll be here any second…" He hadn't even finished his sentence properly when they heard tyres screeching, accompanied by the loud sound of music. Frank shook his head, "I still don't know how she manages to scare suspects. If anyone ever heard her singing to Beyonce, every criminal in Miami would laugh his ass off…" The car came to a halt in the middle of the parking lot, and Nicole got out. Ryan could tell from her appearance that it had actually been her day off. Her long red hair was anything but combed, her clothes were not ironed, and she had a look of extreme annoyance on her face.

Now she walked over to Frank, "Are we positive it was him?"

Frank shook his head, "Not really. I was, until Natalia here said she doubts it."

Nicole bowed down over the body and asked, "Nat, what makes you so sure it wasn't him?"

Natalia repeated her theory, "You know him. You gotta admit it doesn't look like him."

Nicole frowned, "I agree. But then again… Do we know for sure he was here?"

"It looks like he was at least here to steal something. Only one ring gone. We gonna know more after we've searched the whole house. You'll be the first to know."

Nicole nodded, "Thanks, Natalia." She turned to Frank who was on the phone. "Did you talk to the husband?"

Frank flipped his cell close, "Did you refuse to show up at a bank robbery because you rather wanted to come here?"

"Yah. Did you talk to the husband?"

Frank shook his head, "Yes, I did, but you may want to do it again while I go and help Horatio getting the robbers. I see you around." He left.

Nicole grinned, "Yeah, I might wanna do that." She turned back to the body. "Let's just hope this wasn't The Spider. The press is so gonna tear us apart…." She shook her head and turned to Ryan, "You wanna come with me and grill the hubby a bit?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah. Just got here anyways, so… After you."

So, as I said, I hope it doesn't confuse you too much that I made some changes to Nicole. Please read and review. And to those of you who liked old Nicole and her sassyness, don't worry. It'll be back :) Peace and Love