Thank you to the readers out there who are still with me. I really appreciate the reviews left by two of my most loyal readers and even if it is only you two out there reading this story, I hope that you continue to enjoy it and I continue to get feed back off you:) Much love.
If my memory serves me correctly, I wrote this chapter in the dead of night, so there may be some gaping holes left, but I promise that it will all be nicely wrapped up by the end of the story.
Without further ado, I give you, Chapter 4.
Em
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Instincts
Chapter Four
Acting Up
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"Five years for armed robbery, that's what you're both looking at," Catherine started, sliding a file across the table to Chris, "You both have prior charges; Jase, you were even convicted," she slid Jase's wrap sheet across the table to him, "So tell me, for your own sakes, how did you manage to knock off two incredibly expensive earrings without 1. getting caught and my personal favourite, 2. without actually getting within 5 foot of the door which would have led you to the safety deposit boxes?" she slid her final piece of paper across the table. A photograph showing Chris and Jase just seconds before Jase had blacked out the camera, no where near where they needed to be to be considered accountable for this theft.
"Gentlemen," Catherine started again, picking up Chris' file and Jase's wrap sheet, "If you're willing to co-operate we are willing to make these extra charges and convictions disappear. We are willing to let you walk out of here with 5 years for armed robbery rather than closer to 15 years."
Chris and Jase looked at each other; Chris looked like he was going to fold, but one firm shake of the head by Jase told him where he could stick his conscience.
"We'll leave you alone to think it over for a moment, hey?" Cath added, leaving the room with two of the three accompanying officers.
The men sat silent for a moment, Jase staring ahead; Chris looking intently at the photo that had been intentionally left behind by Catherine. She hoped her plan worked and one of them would crack under the pressure of visual evidence. She personally had money on the young one, Chris Jennings.
"Maybe we should tell them about Ethan." He finally said.
The sentence had barely left Chris' mouth before Jase's fist had come beating down on him, "They're-watching-us" he yelled aggressively with each delivered punch. Those were the words he got out before the third accompanying officer in the room had tackled the fighters to the floor, eventually separating them.
In the observation room Catherine smiled smugly to herself, "We have a name."
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Archie and Warrick were working side by side in complete silence. Archie on the A/V equipment and Warrick cross-referencing names on the computer.
"Guys, anything?" Catherine asked, stepping into the lab, the natural high she had been on earlier had dissipated in the wake of no new evidence turning up.
"Cath, I have cross referenced every person at that bank within the last 36 hours with the name Ethan. Nothing. The man doesn't exist outside of Jennings' words."
"Archie?" she asked hopefully.
"I've zoomed and enhanced every badge, every signature, every card within sight in these cameras. There are no Ethan's. But I did find one fraud," he zoomed in on a bank customers card and signature slip, "See, the numbers don't match up?"
Catherine nodded, "Good eyes Archie. I'll give Brass a cal and tell him to be on the look out for a Mr. M. Richardson." She said, squinting her eyes to make out the name on the screen. Just then her phone began ringing; she unclipped it, checking the caller ID, "Speak of the devil…" she said putting the phone to her ear, "Hey Jim."
"Catherine. I think you should come down to PD. I have something you need to see."
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Chris Jennings was back in Interrogation room 3, now sporting a bright orange jump suit.
Catherine and Brass watched from the one way mirror, "Not a bruise on him," Brass said, shaking his head, "How did we miss that?"
Catherine shrugged, "They're good actors. Hey Jim, could you bring in Jase? I think it's time for a real chat."
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Gil spotted Sara form the end of the hallway, she was sitting in the open common room cradling Annabelle, her lips moving; talking. He moved a bit closer, hoping to catch what she was saying without interrupting either one of the precious females in his life.
"…And Daddy can be a bit of a grumble-bum at times, but no matter what he loves you. Mummy and Daddy both love you very much. And so do Nick, Warrick, Catherine and Greg. They're all working very hard for you already. You know what? You've already got men wrapped around your little finger…"
"And Daddy's gonna be beating them away with a stick one day." Grissom cut in, walking into the room.
Sara looked up and smiled as her husband gave her a quick peck on the lips, "Grumble-bum, hey?"
"You're the one with the beating stick, Hon"
"Yeah, well, she's not getting married till she's thirty"
Sara laughed, "Baby, that's young by our standards."
Gil smiled, sitting down, "I love her so much Sara."
"I do too."
He put out his arms for Sara to place Bella in his lap. Once she had settled, Sara lay her head on Gil's shoulder. She didn't realize how tired she was until she had nothing to do.
"Babe, I think I'm gonna go to bed for a bit."
"OK." Then, "Oh, Sara, I got a call from Catherine, she's working a lead."
She nodded, "Good." She said quietly as she walked from the room, leaving Gil and Annabelle sitting alone.
"You know, Mummy can be a grumble-bum sometimes too…" he started.
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"You two don't hate each other, do you?" Catherine rhetorically asked, "Chris, you're not stupid and Jase, you're not all brawn. In fact, you're both all brain. You have this planned, right down to the interrogations." She shook her head in apparent disbelief, "You planned to be caught at least once so you'd be on America's Most Wanted, so you'd be recognized in that bank. All attention would be on you so that someone else could do the dirty work. Our only problem is that we don't know who that someone is."
Chris shifted in his seat.
"We know it's not 'Ethan' because you planned that as well. How long did you think it was going to take for us, trained observers, to realize you had no bruises, no cuts; Jase was hitting you hard, or so it seemed."
Chris cracked, "You weren't supposed to put me in a high security holding cell. No one ever puts me in high security."
Catherine smiled, although Jase was looking straight ahead she saw his arm twitch slightly, "You're planning right now, aren't you? I saw that Jase."
She finally had his attention.
"You were never going to escape. That's not your intention."
"Well, what is our intention then?" Chris sneered, his attitude changing dramatically now that the CSI's were onto them.
"You're going to do the time and get out with enough life left to live off the money you've stolen over the years." Neither of the men responded to this, so Catherine pressed on, "What you haven't counted on is that someone died in the course of your actions. And that, at the very least makes you accessories to murder."
"We didn't shoot anyone."
"No, but someone shot at you. They missed and a man died 2 hours later. You can be considered contributors to his death."
A flash of real fear flickered in both men's eyes.
"We can make that disappear though, if you give us a name we can use."
This time it was Jase who spoke up, "Jared 'Eagle' Dillon. He works behind the counter."
Catherine scribbled down the name, "Thank you." And with that she left the room.
Brass caught up to her a moment later, "You can't charge them with 'contributors to death'. That's not even a legal term."
"I know."
"Wait. No one was shot during the robbery."
Catherine just smiled.
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She could feel her legs turn to jelly. There was so much red.
Too much red.
Leah, the social worker caught her before she could fall, "It's OK sweet heart. We can make this better, alright?"
Sara nodded, she had to have something to believe in right then and there.
Leah walked her from the reddened house, past the puking cop and into the back of the car. She sat with her, holding her cold hand in her warm one.
Offering comfort.
Sara awoke to Bella crying. Gil had fallen asleep in the white chair next to her bed and was out to the world.
Sara sat and listened for a moment before recognizing Annabelle's cry as her hungry cry. Whether she knew it or not, Sara had this mother thing down pat.
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"Mr. Dillon?" Brass banged on the door, "Jared. We know you're in there. Open up."
Nick, fresh from closing the men's high profile case joined in the yelling, "Sir, we need you to step outside, we have a warrant to search your premises."
After interrogating Chris and Jase for the 2nd time, Catherine had called up the bank to check the name she had been given for credibility. It turns out that Jared Dillon was a recently employed man, specializing in the security or safety deposit boxes. This information coupled with the fact that Dillon was no where to be seen on the security tape during the robbery was music to Catherine's ears and an apparent nail in Jared's coffin as the judge had issued a warrant without question.
A grumpy looking man answered the door, "What's this all about?"
"Jared Dillon?" Brass asked.
"Yeah…" Jared answered, his whole demeanor changing as he saw Brass pull out his badge.
"Captain James Brass. This is Nick Stokes, he's with the crime lab. We're going to have to ask you to step outside while we search the house." Brass said, handing Jared the warrant.
His faced was scrunched in apparent confusion, "Of course, but may I ask why?"
"It's all in the warrant." Nick said, tapping the piece of paper as he took off his sunnies and stepped into the house, "Officer Purcell will stay with you." He added.
Jared Dillon had quite obviously just moved in. There were boxes lining the walls and takeaway boxes everywhere.
Brass and Nick continued into the house, looking for places where hidden goods may have been hidden. There were no hanging pictures, so no hidden safes. No blatantly obvious ones for that matter either.
Nick made his way to the bedroom.
"Gee, you made you're way in here fast," Brass laughed.
Nick ignored the jab at his revolving door style of dating and shared his line of thought, "Anthropological studies show that people are most likely to keep things of great importance to them close to them. So the bedroom is a likely place."
Brass tried to contain a smile, "Discovery Channel?"
"It was either that or Sponge Bob." He returned, "And it looks as though my choice may have paid off," Nick added, opening the bottom drawer in Dillon's dresser, "See, this drawer is only half the depth open as it is deep on the outside."
"Hidden drawer," Brass theorized.
Nick nodded, "That's what I reckon."
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Hehe…I'm in the mood for being mean!
Leave some feed back coz I love it:)
Peace and Love to all of ya
Em
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