I Shot the Sheriff
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI.
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Ch4: Stalemate
"I don't understand." Sheriff Liston claimed looking at both DB and Ecklie showing her frustration. She didn't understand why they were so convinced that she was involved when she didn't even understand what was going on.
"Nick called you ten times the night of his attack and twice the following morning. Why? Our records showed that you the last call was for thirty two seconds. What did you guys talk about?" DB asked showing the disinterested Sheriff.
"What does he say?" Sheriff asked not looking at the document.
"Sheriff, you know we can't tell you. What did you guys talk about?" Ecklie said flabbergasted at the sheriff's behavior.
"I assure you that it had nothing to do with your case." The sheriff said pushing the records back to DB.
"I think we should be the judge of that." DB said earning a heated glare from the sheriff.
"He called me about getting some time off or something. He was mumbling and I think he was drunk. I congratulated him about his rescue and that was it, CSI Russell." The sheriff said agitated. "Now, if that is all I am late for a meeting with the DA. Please get out of my office. If you come at me again with any of these accusations again you will have to go through the proper channels and my union rep. now get out of my office!" the sheriff said angry.
"Thank you for…" DB said but was interrupted.
"Get out." She said waving them off. DB and Ecklie awkwardly left and headed for the elevator.
"Well, that was…" DB said trailing off confused as ever. DB took off his glasses and rubbed his temples vigorously.
"DB, we have to be quadruple sure before we go back at the sheriff."
"I think she knows more then she is saying…" DB said putting his glasses back on and his hands on his hips.
"I do too… but if we don't do this carefully our heads are going to be on the line." Ecklie said with a stern voice. DB sighed loudly.
"But what about Nick?" DB asks agitated.
"What about every cop, lab tech, and CSI, who is going to be directly affected by… whatever is going on. And who knows this could be nothing?"
"Doubt it…" DB mumbled.
Greg pulled and pulled with all of his might hoping to finally force the attic door at Nick's house open but so far was unsuccessful. Morgan watched from afar as she finished processing Nick's bathroom. She had found a couple more long black hairs almost hiding in his bathroom.
"Do you want some help?" Morgan asked watching Greg struggle with the door.
"It's stuck on something…" Greg said taking a break his breath. "See that." Greg pointed to the slight discoloration in the ceiling. "That's from the last time Nick had a stalker… did you find anything?"
"Oh, umm… yeah. I found some black hair, and I found the same black hairs I think in his car... but his bed was clean." Morgan said showing him the hair. They hear some barking in the distant coming from outside. "Have you seen Nick's dog?"
"Sam… no, I haven't…" Greg said leaving to go outside, first to the backyard thinking that's where Nick would be but they were wrong so they went to the front porch and saw as Sam ran around Nick's fence and stopped seeing Greg and Morgan. However before they could react they heard a young boy yelling for Sam.
"Sam… stop running away from… me… Mom!" the boy, who couldn't be older than seven, yelled as the boy's mother came around and stood in front of her son.
"What's going on?" the mother, a brunette, asked as Sam lay down on Nick's porch deeply saddened.
"I'm CSI Sanders and this is CSI Brody, we are with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. What is your name?"
"I'm Melinda, and this is my son Trevor. What is going on?" she asked as she brushed her hair out of her face.
"How'd you get this dog, ma'am?" Greg asked stepping off the porch.
"Nick gave it to me last night. Is there something wrong? Is Nick alright?" she asked worried, but was meant by hesitant eyes as they hinted towards her son. "Trev, why don't you play fetch with Sam?" She said kneeling in front of her son.
"I'll try but Sam's just really mopey, mom. Are you guy's friends' with Nick?" Trevor asked Greg and Morgan. They nodded. "That's cool. Nick's a cool guy, he's my friend too. C'mon, Sam" Trevor said moving towards Sam showing him the tennis ball.
"What's going on with Nick?" Melinda asked crossing her arms watching her son briefly as Trevor tried to motivate Sam.
"How do you know Nick?" Morgan asked.
"He's my friend. We both work nights. I'm a nurse at desert palms in the OR. Nick and I have been friends and neighbors for years." She said.
"Nothing more?" Greg asked.
"No, no…" she said with a disappointed smile on her face. "Not that I haven't tried. My son adores him, and he's helped me out a lot in the past. Trevor's father was a bad guy, and Nick helped me get him to stay away."
"Where is your ex now?" Morgan asked thinking that she was on to something.
"Finishing a fifteen year prison sentence in state prison." She said with a relieved smile on her face.
"It wasn't strange for Nick to come over in the middle of the night?" Greg asked.
"Not really, but he did seem a little weird. He gave me a bag of dog food, fifty bucks, and said that he was going to leaving town for a case and needed me to watch Sam for a few days. I said yes, Trevor loves Sam. The only problem is that the dog and I are about the same size and keeps getting away from us." She chuckled nervously.
"What do you mean weird?" Morgan asked, seeing the woman's face go serious again as she thought back.
"He seemed sick or something. He was really tired, panting almost like he couldn't catch his breath a little and sweaty. He seemed weak on his feet, I asked him if he was alright and he said that he thought he was getting sick, but he shrugged it off so, so did I. Besides I have seen him in worst shape." She said getting more concerned. "Is Nick alright?"
"Have you seen anyone over at Nick's recently?" Morgan asked, earning strange glares from both Greg and Melinda. Greg was ready to tell the woman what happened to Nick.
"Yes, if you could call it recent. Nick is rarely ever home, I'd hate to work his hours… any who… maybe a month or two ago, Trevor and his friend were throwing a Frisbee and it went over the fence so I went over to Nick's house to see if he could get it for me."
"And?" Morgan asked trying to understand why the long story.
"A woman answered the door. I think it was his girlfriend."
"Did you catch her name?" Morgan asked.
"No."
"Why do think she was his girlfriend?" Greg asked.
"As a woman, you kinda just know. She was wearing just his shirt and her hair astray, but hey what the heck? Good for him." she chuckled shrugging her shoulders.
"What did the woman look like?" Morgan asked.
"She was younger, mid-twenties or early thirties, I think she had black hair and I think she black or Hispanic… I don't know. I only saw her for a second and it was a while ago. Sorry, now will you please tell me what is going on?" she begged hoping her over share in information would finally make them open out.
"Nick was attacked the night he dropped off Sam to you," Greg said, and Melinda's face fell as she covered her mouth. "He's alright, did you see anything?"
"No, I had pulled a double that night. I had just gotten home when Nick came over." Melinda said genuinely shocked.
"Ew, mommy, Sam is getting sick." Trevor yelled as the dog started sniffing his own vomit. They all moved towards the dog, as Greg put a pair of gloves on seeing something that peaked his interested. Greg knelt down and pulled a piece of black latex from the vomit.
"Thank you for your help, we may in touch. Sam is going to have to come with us." Morgan said to Melinda.
Nick scans the lab as he gets scolded from DB and Sara. He sees the concerned eyes of his friends and coworkers, but he doesn't know how to make this right. Nick scratches as his neck as he couldn't get comfortable on Catherine's old couch. Nick looks up and sees a worried Mandy looking at him. Quirky Mandy with a frown on her face because of him.
"Sara, can you give us a minute?" DB asked realizing that they weren't getting anywhere. Sara left and DB moved to close the blinds.
"Nick, what is going on?" DB asked sitting next to Nick on the couch. Nick remains silent looking forward rubbing his hands together. "are you sleeping with the sheriff?" DB asked and Nick looked at him with a face full of disgust.
"No…" Nick said confused and disgusted. The sheriff was not his type of woman at all.
"Nick, you know how this Sqweegel works and if we don't find the truth, you know what could happen." DB threatened, but still got nothing from Nick. "What does this have to do with the sheriff? You were looking for her before you passed out?"
"I must've been delirious." Nick said quietly still looking forward.
"What about, when you called her a dozen times?" DB asks but Nick doesn't answer, he just clinched his jaw shut and stare holes through the wall. He stopped rubbing his hands and held his knees. "Well what about this other number? This jazz club, what's so special about it?" DB asked trying to hand Nick the records but he kept shoving them away before Nick finally took them only to throw them as he explosively got to his feet.
"Why are you doing this? I'm a good man." Nick said padding his chest.
"I'm just trying to figure out what is going on." DB said slowly getting to his feet.
"Why don't you stop digging into my private life and find the psycho who is trying to kill me?!" Nick shouted before waving him off. Nick paced around the office and DB left agitated and disappointed.
"How's Nicky?" Brass asked DB as he left the office. DB just shakes his head taking off his glasses.
"You feel like making a trip? Let's go and check out this so called jazz club. I'm tired of not getting the full story. C'mon." DB said taking Brass.
What do you think is going to happen at the club? The team learned some more about Nick's personal life. Who's word can they trust and who should they be weary of? How'd you feel about the sheriff's confrontational attitude? The next chapter is going to be big, I promise! Please Review!
