As both detectives hounded Nikki to speak she was silent and still looking over the photos. There was a particular photo she couldn't stop herself from tearing up at it. It was a police officer lying in his living room covered in his own blood. The moment Ryan attempted to follow her eyes however she looked away. Only a split second later her lawyer arrived. How'd he find out she was here?
"The next time you force my client against her will to come down here I'll be pressing charges. Miss Love is innocent and you have no concrete evidence linking her to the murders so I suggest you focus your resources somewhere else." Horatio glared down Mr. Morgan knowing the man was probably guiltier than Nikki. "We need to question her about her whereabouts after leaving the hospital."
"I received a death treat with some flowers so I took off. I stayed at a crappy hotel outside the city." Ryan watched the lawyer noticeably tense and his eyes narrow. "Can anyone confirm that story?" Nikki shook her head refusing to make eye contact. "I broke into one of the rooms. I stayed for two weeks before I went home. I cleaned everything, no prints, no blood." The lawyer grabbed Nikki's shoulder trying to quiet her. "You realize they can book you on that?"
"Why did Mr. Baldwin try to kill you?" Nikki rolled her eyes as the lawyer attempted to quiet her once again. "Because I thought he killed Mendez so I confronted him about it. I figured Mendez screwed him over on a deal or something; he had a way with double crossing. I didn't expect Vinnie to attack me though. When I woke up in the hospital there was a note saying, "You're going to meet me at warthog's way." Warthog Way is the name of a trail out in the swamps Vinnie said he dumped his victims. I knew he was coming after me."
"Why did you leave the hotel after two weeks? How'd you know it'd be safe?" Nikki was quick, her lies smooth and planned, she truly did seem like just an innocent victim. "I got a call from Charles here and he told me Vinnie was found dead." The detectives looked at the lawyer who obviously didn't seem very happy with Nikki despite the fact she was smiling wide. "I have my resources detective." Horatio didn't push it any further but Ryan did.
"Who do you think murdered Vinnie?" Nikki looked Ryan straight in the eye and he knew what ever words came out of her mouth were going to be a lie. "People go to Mendez for a number of different things, drugs, weapons, money, girls...whatever you need Mendez is the go to guy. Knowing Vinnie he went to Mendez for a large amount of one of these highly trafficked items because he had a buyer. If Mendez screwed him over like I think then maybe who ever Vinnie's buyer was killed him. I mean that's what I'm thinking anyways."
"Do you know any of the buys or sellers?" Ryan knew it was a dead end and that Nikki was just leading them in a different direction but somehow he construed this as her trying to help him; he believed she was dropping hints and clues but didn't know how to make them out just yet. "I don't, despite what you officers of the law think of me I'm not some criminal. I know my way around the streets but I don't get tied up into that kind of shit."
"Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Horatio was either playing along or he was still suspicious of Nikki. "Are you kidding? I thought Vinnie was my boy; I wanted to make sure I got my facts straight before I incriminated someone I knew to be meddling in some heavy shit. I wasn't trying to get myself killed. Ha and yet looked what happened. Do a guy a solid and look where it gets me!"
Horatio nodded before telling her to choose her friends more carefully. She was instructed not to leave town until the case was solved and she was in the clear of any crimes. She agreed and her lawyer instructed them to call him if they needed to ask Nikki anymore questions. Ryan watched rather hopeless and fearful for Nikki as Mr. Morgan pulled her roughly from her seat and led her out of the building.
"What do you think Ryan?" Horatio was studying his officer's face quite carefully before the man turned to face him. "I don't know what to think yet." He couldn't come right out and say he thought she was innocent when everyone still believed, no matter the evidence or statement, she was guilty. "She had an air tight story, an explanation for every little detail in fact." Ryan stared into Lieutenant Caine's eyes before the man turned and walked away leaving him to his thoughts.
Wolfe retrieved the taped interrogation and picked up a tape player from the lab. He listened to the tape over and over the rest of the day noting down anything that seemed like it could be something and anything that made him have a gut feeling. Nikki was trying to tell him something he just had to forget out what.
As he listened to the tape he remembered the flash of fear in Morgan's eyes as Nikki had told them he had been the one to tell her Vinnie was head. "I have my resources," Ryan replayed. He pulled Charles Morgan's file and read it over before he found a connection to Freddy Martinez, the name Markus Valdez was listed as his employer.
Ryan finally had proof this Valdez guy was real, he was signing a man's checks; a man offering legal representation to a woman tied up in a multiple murders case where Valdez was accused of being the big boss. He printed out the documents and bee lined it for Horatio who was speaking with an older woman who wore an FBI badge.
"They're being relocated yet again and the security breach is being thoroughly investigated Lieutenant Caine." Horatio didn't look very happy and Ryan tried to think of what the two might be discussing. "Just keep me informed," he dismissed her as he noticed Ryan walking up. "Ryan, did you find something?" Ryan watched the woman walk away and realized what she was there for. "She's working Melina Juarez's case isn't she?" Horatio nodded and before Ryan could ask what was going on he was led into the briefing area.
"Someone was inside Melina's home, two agents were injured but thankfully Melina wasn't home and both men pulled through. As of yet they have no suspects but I'm told they've got their best on the case." Ryan frowned before nodding; after months of the case being open there still wasn't much to go on with what happened at the compound and who was behind the murders of the survivors.
"I pulled Charles Morgan's file and found a connection to our murders. On his tax documents Markus Valdez is listed as his employer." Horatio went over the file for a moment in thought. "Markus Valdez, the man Freddy Martinez claimed was behind the murders?" Ryan nodded and Horatio's expression revealed his new determination. "We've got a lead." He pat Ryan on the back before heading down the hall ready to follow up on the newest break in the case.
