A/N-Thanks for the reviews so far Yoshimara, Maria-Elric05, and 101spacemonkey. Unfortunately, if you have read my stories before you know they pretty much center around Greg angst of some sort, so expect that from this is all I will say for now. But for now the search for the killer continues...
With a cup of coffee in hand, Greg headed straight for the DNA lab once he got into work. Wendy looked up upon seeing him enter his former lab. "Hey, your results just came in," She said to him as she walked over with a sheet of paper to meet him.
"Has Nick come in yet?" He asked her as she handed him the DNA results.
She looked over his shoulder. "Here he comes," she smiled.
Nick came into the lab, smiling at Wendy. "Hello. So do we know who our victim is and our killer?"
"Yes on one and no on the other," she responded.
Greg turned around to face Nick, the results in his hands. "It looks like our victim is a Jennifer Fanning, age 29. No match on the male DNA."
"Jennifer was reported missing five days ago," Wendy added, looking at her computer screen.
"And no match for our killer," Nick frowned as he looked at the results Greg handed to him.
"No, sorry. He's not in CODIS," Wendy told them.
"Well at least we know who she is now. We can inform the family," Greg said somberly. He looked back at Wendy. "Thanks for the quick results."
Next after telling Detective Vartann who their victim was they went to the Trace Lab. "Got anything on our case?" Nick asked him.
David Hodges turned away from his computer and looked dully at the two CSI's. "When do I ever not get you your results?"
Greg rolled his eyes, but kept quiet, not in the mood to battle wits with him.
"Get on with it," Nick groaned.
The snarky lab tech stood up and waved his hand at them to follow him to the microscope. "Take a look for yourself."
Nick looked down first but did not know what it was. Greg looked next. It looked familiar to him. He lifted his head and looked at Hodges. "Is this liquid latex?"
Hodges raised his eyebrows in surprise; not thinking the young CSI would know it. "Why yes, Sanders, it is. You've experienced the stuff?"
Greg smirked and looked at Nick. "Old case. I think Nick remembers." Nick slowly nodded.
"Ah yes, I do remember. So this was found on her body?"
Hodges nodded. "Doc Robbins gave me the sample. It was found on her back and in her vaginal track."
Nick looked at Greg with a questioning look. "A Lady Heather connection, perhaps?"
Greg shrugged. "Possibly. The stuff is popular though but we can check it out."
"Anything else, Hodges?" Nick asked him.
"The other stuff I presume you already are aware of. Sand, dirt, and gravel, all commonly found in the desert."
"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks," Nick said to him.
They walked down the hall. "Do you suppose we should fill in Grissom on the liquid latex and see if he can talk to Lady Heather about it?" Greg asked him.
He shrugged. "It can't hurt. Let's head to his office now."
Grissom was reading a report when they walked in. He looked over the top of his glasses at them. "What can I do for you two?"
"The case we are working on. We think there may be a Lady Heather connection with our case," Greg said to him.
"Yeah, there was liquid latex found on our victim's body. It reminds me of that case when we first discovered about her place," Nick told him.
Grissom took off his glasses and looked thoughtfully. "Did the victim work for her?"
"We aren't sure yet. Vartann is doing the work on that right now. But maybe she was a client or our killer was," Greg said.
"What do you know about the killer?" He asked them.
Nick looked to Greg before speaking. "Well, unfortunately not much at all."
"Have their been any similar cases recently?"
Greg shook his head. "Nope, none that we found."
"Well, let's not jump ahead of ourselves. Let's find out more about our victim. Perhaps an ex-boyfriend or current one before we question Lady Heather," Grissom advised them.
"Sure, okay," Nick said.
After leaving Grissom's office, they both went to the break room. Greg grabbed another cup of coffee while Nick went for a soda. They both sat down with their files in front of them.
"We need to get with Vartann and see what he found out about Jennifer Fanning," Nick said. He noticed Greg staring at the photos of the victim's back, the lacerations on it.
"Greg?" He said a couple of times before he looked up seemingly stunned.
"Huh?" He said, blinking.
"You were staring at her photos again. Are you sure you can handle working this case?" He asked out of concern.
"No, I'm fine. I was looking at them trying to figure out what might have caused them. It does not look like a standard whip mark. Maybe something wider was used, like a belt," he surmised.
Nick motioned for him to hand over the photos. He examined them more closely. "You know, I think you are right." He looked at Greg. "So that sort of takes us into a wider window of suspects. Most people own belts. We can maybe see who sells liquid latex in town here and try that."
Greg frowned. "You can buy it online too. Unless we can get some idea of who we are looking at, that is a long shot."
Nick sighed. After a few moments he looked at Greg, who seemed in better spirits today. "So how are things between you and Marie?" He asked with a grin.
Greg smiled. "It's good, really good. You know I still can't believe I got someone like her in my life just when I needed her."
"So are you still hopping between each others places?"
Greg nodded. "Yep, this week is my place."
"You two should just find a new place in between both jobs and just move in together. I mean, you two seem pretty serious," Nick said to him.
"Yeah we are. Well, I guess I am. She gives me something to look forward to everyday. She really helped me realize that I was not alone. But mostly it is that she accepts me for who I am now, accepts me body and soul," he said, reflectively.
Nick smiled. "Well if anyone deserves happiness, it is you, G, after all you have been through."
Greg's ears turned pink. "Thanks Nick. You know, honestly, when I start to remember those things I went through back then, I try to think of Marie and her smile and I feel good again."
"Whatever works, I say," Nick chuckled.
They finished up their drinks and then got in touch with Detective Vartann. He filled them in on more of their victim's background.
She worked at the MGM Grand as a waitress in one of their restaurants. She recently broke up with her boyfriend, according to her parents. Vartann already called in for a search warrant of his place. Billy Watts was his name and he supposedly had no alibi for the evening she went missing.
Finally they had a possible lead to follow up on. They did not get the search warrant until early morning, so that meant they were pulling overtime. Greg called Marie's cell and left a message for her that he would not be home for quite a while and to stay at her place if she wanted.
Detective Vartann and a uniformed officer went ahead of the two CSI's to present the search warrant. Billy Watts was 31 years old and looked much older when he opened the door. His black, curly hair looked unkempt as with the rest of him. His eyes were bloodshot as if he had been crying at some point.
"Mr. Watts, we have a search warrant to go through your place," Vartann said as he held it up in front of the man.
"Is this because I have no alibi? I would never kill her. I still loved her even though she broke up with me. I would never hurt her," he told them.
"Well if you have nothing to hide, then our search should not be a problem," Vartann said.
Mr. Watts sighed and then opened the door fully for them to come in.
Nick and Greg took separate rooms to go through. They collected various things but nothing really pointed to him being their killer.
It took them a couple of hours to go through the whole place. By the time Greg made it home he was dead tired. He walked into his bedroom and was surprised to see Marie sleeping in his bed. He had not paid attention when he parked his car. He clearly missed seeing her car there.
He managed to take his shower and slide into bed without waking her up. He gazed lovingly at her a moment before placing a kiss on her head. She stirred a little in her sleep but did not wake up.
He smiled and laid his head back and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.
He woke up several hours later to see Marie gazing at him with a big smile on her face. "Good evening. What time did you finally get home? I did not hear you," she said to him.
He raised himself up on his elbow. "I got home around 10 am. You were sound asleep. I did not want to wake you, you looked so peaceful and beautiful," he smiled and then leaned in and gave her a kiss.
She wrapped her arms around him and started placing kisses on his neck. "When do you have your next day off?" She asked as she nibbled down his neck.
"Mmmm, tomorrow," he moaned as she started running her hand under his shirt. She stopped suddenly and lifted her head. "Really? I'm off too. We hardly ever get the same days off lately."
He looked up at her as she ended up straddling him. "So do you have something in mind?" He asked with a devilish grin and a flicker of his eyebrows.
She lightly slapped his arm. "Not that type of idea, at least not to start the night. I was thinking we could try to go to a show or something. We rarely go out."
He frowned. "Can't we just sit home, do take out and rent some movies?"
She scowled at him. "We always do that. Greg, it's been long enough since your face was in the news. No one will even remember you from all that. You have to stop being so sensitive to being out in public. I'm over it now. Come on, just this once, please!" She pouted and blinked her green eyes at him.
He sucked on his bottom lip, contemplating her idea. He knew she was right. "Okay, we'll do something. You make the plans, since you obviously have something in mind."
She squealed a little in excitement and planted a big kiss on his lips. "Thank you so much. We'll have a great time, you will not regret it."
He ran his hands down her arms. "As long as I am with you, I'm sure I won't."
As he drove into work a few hours later, he was still smiling at how excited Marie was. They had managed to get tickets to Cirque Du Soleil: Love. They both loved The Beatles music and both wanted to see that show. Greg just hoped work did not get in the way of their plans.
He was grabbing a cup of coffee when Nick came into the break room. "Hey Greg, we have to meet Brass out at a scene. Another dead girl," he told him with a frown.
They were quiet as they drove out to the desert scene. When Nick stopped the SUV, Greg finally spoke up. "This is only a few miles from where we found Jennifer Fanning's body. Do you think they could be related?"
"Well, I think by what Brass said, it might be. Let's take a look for ourselves," Nick said.
Greg nodded and followed the older CSI into the desert. David Philips was examining the woman's body. He looked up and saw the two CSI's. "Hey guys, our Vic has been dead at least 12 hours. Stab wound to the heart looks like manner of death." He held up one of her arms. "Ligatures on her wrists." He turned her over partially. "Similar markings on her back as to your last victim."
Greg sighed heavily. "So we might have a serial killer on our hands again."
Nick looked at him with some sympathy, knowing Greg's last serial killer case turned out to be his worst experience ever being he was a victim. Nick had worked another serial since that time, but he knew this one had to be too close for comfort for Greg. "Yes it does but we will find this creep."
Greg's serious eyes met Nick's. "Yes we will."
Brass came over to the two CSI's. "Our victim was found by two hikers, Carly and Mike Gibbs. They were camping out here and went for a moonlight hike and found our Vic here. They called it in immediately. Luckily there is cell phone service out here, go figure."
"Thanks Jim. We'll see what we can find out here but I doubt it will be much. If she was dumped out here hours ago, most of the evidence is probably gone by now," Nick said to him.
"Well do what you can. I'm going to go through missing persons in the last 24-72 hours and see if I find our girl. I'll let you know if I do." They got to work once Super Dave took the body away.
"There are so many footprints. They could be the hikers or our killer's. I'll try to make some casts of them before they disappear," Nick said.
Greg nodded and then started walking down the road. He looked at the various tire tracks and took photos of them.
"He brings them out here where he knows no one is bound to find them for awhile. Only people that come this way are truckers or campers. He knows Vegas pretty well," Nick yelled over to Greg as he went over the scene.
Greg saw some fluid on the road not far from where the body was dumped. He took a photo of it before bending down to get a closer look at it. He took out a swab and swabbed it. He brought it up to his nose to sniff it. "His car maybe leaking antifreeze," he yelled out to Nick. He got up and started following faded footprints back to where their body was found.
He looked up at Nick. "I think he stopped the car over there and took out the body and dumped it over here. Just far enough off the roadside for regular vehicles driving by to miss the body."
"Well, the two girls have been fairly light weights. If he is strong enough, they would be easy enough to carry this little ways," Nick guessed.
After a bit longer they were ready to head back to the lab.
"So your off tomorrow. Got any plans?" Nick asked Greg on the drive back to the lab.
Greg had been staring out the window, thinking about the case. He turned to Nick when he asked. "Yeah Marie and I are going to the Cirque show 'Love.' Her idea," he grinned when he saw the smirk Nick gave him.
"Aww the lovebirds are going to see Love," Nick laughed.
"Shut up, you're just jealous because you have no girlfriend right now."
"Not true, I have a lunch date today with this hot little dental hygienist," Nick grinned.
Greg seemed amused. "No wonder you go to the dentist so much. So who asked whom out?"
"I asked her, if you must know. She said it was about time," he laughed some more.
"Good, then you can stop living vicariously through me," his friend chuckled.
"Well anyways enjoy the show. They are great, but you know that since you've seen one before." Greg nodded in agreement.
Once back at the lab, they paid a visit to Doc Robbins in autopsy. "Hello fellas. I don't have much to tell you. The MO is very much like your last victim. Apparent sexual assault and some lacerations on her back indicating she was whipped."
"Can I see those marks again?" Greg asked. "Sure." Doc turned her over on her side. Greg traced his finger over them.
"Looks wider again, like a belt." Doc nodded in agreement with him. "That would be my guess too. Also burn marks along her arm and a few on her chest, indication cigarette burns."
"So we are more and more looking at the same guy for both of these murders," Nick said.
"If I was to say, yes you would," Doc Robbins said.
They said thanks to him and then both headed to the break room for some coffee. They went over what they had so far when Brass found them.
"Hey guys, I've identified our newest victim. Her name is Holly Smith. She worked at the Laguna Lounge as a singer. She was reported missing yesterday when she had not reported to work two days in a row and no answer at her place. Last her colleagues knew was that it had been her day off. So that means she could have been grabbed 3 days ago."
"Didn't our other girl also disappear on or around her day off?" Nick asked.
"That would be correct. Also they only live a mile away from each other, both in nice apartment complexes. Ready to take a trip to her place?' Brass asked them.
They got their gear and were headed off again.
After searching her place and coming up with nothing significant, they were ready to end their shift. They were both heading to the locker room when Hodges found them.
"Hey, before you leave, I wanted to let you know there was traces of liquid latex found on your victim again."
Nick looked at Greg, frowning. "In her vaginal track too, like our last one?"
"That's what Doc Robbins said it was from. A liquid latex condom?" Hodges wondered with a disgusted look on his face.
Nick sighed. "Possibly. Thanks Hodges. We'll look into that avenue tomorrow."
Hodges nodded and left them. "You mean you will, I got a evening planned. If I cancel, she'll have my head," Greg smirked.
"Ah yes. Just me. I guess I will have to fill you in on Friday night then. Say doesn't Marie live near where we were tonight, at our victim's apartment?" Nick asked him.
"Yeah, just a few blocks away in Harvest Meadows. I might just talk her into moving in with me permanently now."
"That or find a whole new place to live in, like I said earlier. Anyway, let's get out of here. You have a great time tonight. I want to hear all about it," Nick said as he clapped his hand on Greg's shoulder.
"You too, enjoy your hot lunch date," he grinned before leaving his friend behind.
Please review! :)