A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I know I updated with two chapters yesterday, but I thought I would continue with one chapter a day until the story is finished, which will be soon. I already have another idea for a story (a Greg & Morgan centered one) banging around in my head, so that'll get written before too long. Hope you had a good holiday weekend (if you celebrate July 4th)!
Chapter 7
"So the driver described the person stealing his car as a slender white female with dark hair. Basically, it sounds exactly like Irina. So we know her sister looks like her, but aside from that, he didn't see anything." Morgan told D.B. when she and Sean got back from talking to the owner of the van.
"Great, but that doesn't really narrow it down though. What about finding a birth certificate for the second child?" Catherine wondered.
"I've been looking for that, and I think I found it." Nick said. They all looked surprised. Greg had dug around for it to no avail, but it turned out that she hadn't been born in Vegas after all, but a small town in northern Nevada.
"The problem, though, is that I can't find any evidence to prove that she was in Albuquerque or San Diego during the times of the other murders." He said, showing them the computer screen.
"What's her name?" Sean asked.
"Her father is listed as Paul Drago and she's listed as Anastasia Drago. I can't find any record of Anastasia's whereabouts after the age of 18." Nick said, looking frustrated.
"Well, let me help you. Maybe she changed her name. What is the last record you have for her?" Morgan asked.
"She graduated from a small high school in New Mexico and after that, nothing." Nick said.
"May I?" Morgan asked. D.B. gave her the go ahead and she went to a computer to do some digging. Greg appeared to say goodbye and she made him promise to text her when he came back. She was dragging, so she grabbed some coffee before starting her search.
Nick showed up to help her out. "So… how's things around here?" He asked. Morgan smiled.
"Boring without you, of course! Greg really misses you. I think he feels outnumbered." Nick laughed.
"Yeah, I miss him too. Did I ever tell you about the time Catherine caught him dancing around in a dancer's headdress in the middle of the hallway?" Morgan burst into laughter.
"What?"
"Yep. It was evidence, they needed to get DNA off of it and back then Greg was our DNA and all-purpose lab rat. He was great at it. After getting the DNA evidence off, he decided to take it for a spin. I wish someone had caught it on tape." Nick was laughing.
"What did it look like?" She asked, typing in information about the high school Anastasia Drago graduated from into the computer.
Nick described it to her, peacock feathers and all. She couldn't begin to picture it or Greg wearing it. She'd seen pictures of him back then, of him and Nick, being goofy together. It made her wish she'd known them for longer.
"That's awesome, I wish I could have been there. I guess I would have been just out of high school, then." She said.
Nick groaned. "Don't remind me of how old I am! Man, we have this guy in San Diego, he's been there forever. He remembers everyone, too. I think he's old enough to be my dad."
"Everyone?"
"Yeah, that Amanda girl I met a while ago? She looks a lot like the Amanda that worked for the San Diego lab a couple years back. He told me all about her, showed me her picture and everything. He said she got really clingy with one of their lab techs. I think she transferred out to avoid any blowback. Don't know to where." Nick said offhandedly.
Morgan frowned. Amanda worked for the San Diego lab a couple of years ago? That meant she could have been there when the electrocution cases went through. But that made no sense, if she'd been there when that happened, wouldn't she have mentioned it? Unless…
"Do you remember how long ago that was?" She asked. Nick shrugged.
"Two or three, I guess. Why?"
"Just… a hunch. Let me check something." She went into the personnel files and looked up Amanda's name. She didn't have access to them because she wasn't a supervisor. "Damn." She hissed. Nick saw what she was doing.
"You think Amanda was in San Diego when those murders happened and she didn't tell us?" He asked. Morgan nodded.
"Let me talk to D.B. I bet he can check her employment history." Nick said.
"I'm coming with you, I have a weird feeling about this." Morgan said, following him down the hall to the supervisor's office.
~XXXXX~
The first thing Greg realized before waking up was that he was moving and based on the background noise, he knew he was in the back of a car. His head throbbed violently and he winced. Opening a single eye, he looked around.
Someone had rolled him behind a generator, which wasn't powered on. Just past it, he could see a large wooden chair and a man, his back to him. He was talking on a phone and Greg could only hear pieces of the conversation from his distance.
He cautiously moved his fingers and toes, just to make sure everything was in working order. When he discovered it was, he moved to check if he still had his phone. It was in his back pocket, and when he slid it out to use it, he saw the screen was cracked. Annoyed, he put it back in his pocket, hoping it was still broadcasting a signal that the team could track to find him.
So far, the man at the other end of the van hadn't noticed that he was awake, which Greg knew he would have to use to his advantage. A dim light overhead was the only way to see. Slowly, he used the noises and bumps in the road to get up and move towards him. He felt warm blood pour from a wound on his head and the ground spun under his feet.
I can't pass out now, I have to do this! Keep going!
He knew what happened, now. Irina's half-sister had heard they were investigating. She'd tracked him down and had her minion attack him in the parking garage at the crime lab. For all he knew, Irina had been in contact with her all along and she'd told her what was happening. He inched his way around the massive electric chair and as he approached the guy, he saw the gun sticking out of the waistband of his pants.
Shit. Of course I don't have my gun with me, why would I? Greg thought. But he'd prepared for moments like this. After the death of Demetrius James and the attack in the alley, Greg had been fearful of crowds. He hated how scared and weak he felt and for the longest time, he didn't tell anyone. Nick, though, could tell something was up. When he confronted him about it, Greg admitted his fears.
Nick hadn't pushed his ideas away as silly or irrational. Instead, he gave him some advice.
"Face your fear. How do you overcome this?"
The only thing he could think to do was to take self-defense classes. He took as many of them as he could and worked out in the gym when he got the chance. It worked, or at least, it helped. For years, he'd continued the training so that if a situation ever arose again, he wouldn't be defenseless like last time. Sure, he had his gun, which helped, but he knew that he wouldn't always have it with him. There would be times, like this one, when he had to rely on his own reflexes and skills.
Once he was directly behind the guy, he reached out and snatched the gun from his waistband, pointing it at him. The man whipped around to stare at him. Greg didn't recognize him.
"Give me the phone before I shoot you." Greg snarled. The man laughed.
"You idiot. That gun isn't loaded." Greg wasn't going to look away long enough to check. Besides, why would he be carrying an unloaded gun?
"So you won't mind if I test it out then, right?" He asked, before aiming at the man's knee and pulling the trigger.
~XXXXX~
Nick and Morgan talked to D.B. and he immediately checked her employment history. Sure enough, she'd worked for the crime labs in Albuquerque and San Diego during the times of the electrocution murders.
"I don't understand this. They do an extensive background check on everyone before they work here. How could we have missed that?" Morgan asked.
"Well, she doesn't have a criminal history. She's never been convicted of anything. When I look her up on my databases, it shows that the identity of Amanda Bennet has only existed for twelve years." Catherine said.
"Do we have her prints on anything? Can we run them?" Morgan asked.
"Just what I was thinking!" Nick said, running from the room. He came back moments later with Sara.
"She touched this." Sara said, holding the paper with gloves. They printed it and ran it through AFIS. It showed a match to someone named Anastasia Bennet.
"From San Diego." Nick said, glaring at the screen. Her fingerprints had been put into the system by the San Diego lab when she worked there.
"She does look like Irina. If you think about it." Morgan said. They exchanged glances and D.B. sighed.
"If this is true, then all her cases are considered contaminated. I've gotta talk to Ecklie." He said, picking up the phone.
"So… this is our conclusion? Amanda is the killer?" Sara asked.
"She's our only link to all three locations." Nick said.
"You know… Amanda disappeared a couple of hours ago. She said it was too look in on her dog, but she hasn't come back yet." Sara said. Nick ran his fingers through his hair. Morgan decided then that Amanda had to be the killer. Then she realized someone else had left, too.
"Hey, guys? What time was Greg supposed to be back?" Morgan asked. Sara and Nick looked at each other and then at their phones to see what time it was.
"He was supposed to be back half an hour ago…" Sara trailed off.
"I'll call him." Nick said, pulling out his phone. He dialed the number and they waited anxiously. Morgan's heart was pounding wildly in her chest.
"It went to voicemail. Crap…" Nick said.
"You can track it, though, can't you? And Amanda's phone, too because they're issued by the lab." Morgan pointed out.
"Yeah… yeah!" Sara said. Catherine called Brass and Detective Crawford to let them know what was happening and where the evidence was pointing.
"We're tracking them down through the GPS on their phones." She said.
"Hey, did anyone bother to check the parking garage?" Sara asked. Morgan and Nick shook their heads.
"I'll go." Nick said, running towards the parking structure outside. While waiting for Nick to return, Catherine pulled up a map of Vegas with a glowing dot on it. D.B. returned and they filled him in. He let them know that Ecklie would be arriving soon, along with Brass and Crawford.
"Greg is on the move along highway 215. Based on his speed, he's in a car. I couldn't get Amanda's location, I guess she turned her phone off." Catherine said.
"Okay, but do we know he's in danger?" D.B. asked. Morgan's phone beeped and she checked the message from Nick.
"Yes, Greg's in danger!" She said, showing them the picture Nick sent. It was Greg's car, still parked in the lot, with a blood pool next to the driver's side door. D.B. studied the image and then studied them.
"Let's go get him."
