Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Stalker. It drives me crazy when they do something to our sweet Texan and then they allow no resolution. Drives me crazy!

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my third CSI fic. Please be gentle.

I love this episode and it is the epi that got me hooked as a CSI addict.

"It's not over for me, it's over for Jane Galloway though." Nick was in obvious pain but nobody seemed to hear him, they just left the room. No words were spoken, except "We need to get back to the lab."

Sara's cell phone rang, she was too busy driving and trying to catch up with Brass so Warrick answered,"Warrick."

"Hey Rick, I just ran the fingerprints from the note paper through codis, they came back for Janet Karrigan, it appears that she was in a mental institution in Dallas, Texas for the past twenty-years. She had been arrested for statutory rape on a minor but pleaded insanity." Mandy gave him the details of Sara's evidence." The other prints in the apartment came back for a Joseph Karrigan, Janet's biological father and a Steve Karrigan, her brother.

Warrick covered the phone, needing an update on the case from Sara, "Sara, what evidence is Mandy running for you?"

" I got prints from the apartment. Also ,I found some notes in the side pocket of a suitcase, I asked Mandy to run them for prints." Her hand automatically sliding to her side to feel for the diary which she had not turned in as evidence.

Warrick nodded and continued to listen to Mandy as she gave details of the female assailant.

" It looks as if she was tried in front of Judge Stokes, Nick's father. He committed her to the Dallas Mental institute of Health for unknown duration due to her mental disease." She paused as if she was reading something then came back onto the phone,"It looks as if she was discharged accidentally two and a half months ago on a technicality, there is a warrant for her re-arrest pending. Evidently she has been staying with her father Joseph Karrigan and her brother Steve Karrigan here in Las Vegas."

"So because somebody made a mistake this woman was freed?" Warrick could not believe what he was hearing.

"It appears that she has been diagnosed with schizophrenic/bipolar disorder and is considered very dangerous." Mandy finished.

"Thanks Mandy." he hung up the cell and placed it back on the console.

"Janet Karrigan, was tried in front of Nick's father twenty-years ago after being charged with statutory rape of a minor. She was sentenced to a mental health institution in Dallas,Texas for an unknown amount of time and released accidentally two and a half months ago, an outstanding warrant for her re-arrest has been issued." Warrick quickly gave the details of the conversation.

"What is her connection to Nick though? Revenge?" Grissom asked no one in particular, trying to come up with his own answers based on the bits of conversation that he heard, which was not very much.

Warrick rubbed at his face out of frustration that answers were not going to be forthcoming. "Maybe it is payback for Nick's father putting her in an institution."

Sara bit her lip, she bit it so hard she almost drew blood, she had to let them in on Nick's pain but she knew that it would come with a price.

"Gil, I think this has all of your answers." she reached into her pocket and pulled out the still bagged piece of evidence.

Grissom looked at it as it might bite him, "What is this Sara?"

"I found it at Karrigan's apartment, I didn't turn it in with the rest of the evidence." She was trying to keep her tear filled eyes on the road as she heard Grissom pull out a pair of gloves and open the baggie.

He carefully removed the piece of evidence and went directly to where a picture marked a page, the picture was a young child approximately nine or ten years old, a look of terror embedded upon his child-like features. Grissom looked over to Sara with a questioning look,"Who is this?"

"Read the page." the only words she could get out of her mouth.

He read the words written in pencil so long ago,'tonight I made love to Nicky Stokes, the love of my life.'

The book fell out of his hands into his lap, he reached for his glasses and wiped the unshed tears from his eyes.

Warrick sat in the back, confused as to what had just transpired in the front seats."What?"

"I was wrong. It was about Nick all along. Nigel Crane was a sick man with evil intentions but these individuals were more motivated to take chances to get to their prey. Somewhere in Janet Karrigan's sick mind she thinks that Nick loves her. She was more of a stalker than Crane in a way, she just allowed him to do her dirty work and if it did not work out then they would not get caught and could try again." He looked down at the book and shook his head, "And we walked out on him, unwilling to hear his cry for help. All Nick wanted was someone to listen." He shook his head and rubbed at his sore face, "I wonder if anybody ever heard his cries for help?"

He placed the book back into the baggie and handed it back to Sara,giving it to her for safe keeping.

Warrick was not quite for sure he understood but he figured that somehow this woman had hurt his friend more than a toss from a second story window or a laceration to a liver could ever cause.

Joe Karrigan looked back at his daughter in the rear view mirror, she was his world, he loved her more than he could ever love himself and he would die for her too. She had spent too many years in that hell due to Nick Stokes father, Judge Stokes, and what for? She was just having fun with that kid, she didn't hurt him but he ratted his daughter out, what was that kid's name, Toby? His inattention to the road causing him to almost miss the interstate turn.

Taking a sharp right onto the interstate ramp he yelled to her in the back,"Janet, get your seat belt on and make sure Stevie's is on too."

"Yes daddy, the elderly woman replied." As she turned and fastened Nick's belt then her own. She looked at her brother's still body and smiled.

Joe looked back and saw that the police cars were still with him and had been joined by several others."This isn't looking good little girl. I don't know if we'll be getting back to Texas.", seeing that their chances were getting slimmer as the growing number of police cars continued.

Brass hung up his cell from talking to Grissom, he had not been given all the details but enough to know that this was either revenge or just a bunch of southern hick kooks. Either way he knew that his choices were going to be limited if he wanted to keep Nicky alive.

Brass had caught up the the suburban and now they were just keeping up, no moves yet. He thought for a moment and then picked up his radio,"Let's get the chains down at the John Carter exit. I want everyone to hold back when the car stops, we don't know if they still have explosives or not and remember they have one of our own."

"Sir we are on it." An officer replied.

Brass closed his eyes, Nick had suffered enough, it was time to get him home.

He looked up to see the suburban darting through traffic, a police car attempting to hold back the flow of traffic, it was soon joined by three other cars and they successfully stopped the traffic behind them. The other side of the interstate was already being rerouted, this guy had explosives earlier he would be negligent to think that he still didn't have a back up plan.

The next exit would have the chains,Brass closed his eyes and said a short prayer.

Sara's emergency red and blue lights helped her maneuver through traffic and onto the interstate. They could see the police ahead of them, holding back through traffic, she hit the emergency lane with a bump, sending Warrick forward, his head hitting the light on the ceiling of the car.

"Dam Girl, warn me next time." he mumbled as he repositioned himself in his seat.

"Sorry. If I were you I would put on a seatbelt." Sara called back to the tall man.

"It's good, just bumped my head, that's all. Seatbelt now on!" he groaned as he held on to the top of his forehead.

Catching up to the squad cars in a matter of time she followed close behind.

Not having a radio to communicate with was going to be a problem, Grissom thought as he flipped open his cell and hit Brass's number.

"I'm kinda busy up her Gil, chasing a cop killer and kidnapper takes some concentration." Brass answered.

"I'm aware of your situation, just need an open line to get information." Grissom responded.

"Sure,I an quite ambidextrous." Irritated more at the situation than with his friend.

"I just need to know what is going on with Nick right now." His voice cracking with emotion.

Brass acknowledged his friend's need,"Sure, I'll keep the line open." laying the phone down with the speaker phone on, "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, we can hear you." Grissom responded as he watched the suburban hit what appeared to be spike chains in front of them, skidding around to a complete stop.

The police cars came to a sudden halt,Brass watched as nobody exited the vehicle,"I need everybody to hold a position.",he announced into his radio, the policemen jumped out of their cars with guns aimed at the stalled vehicle."Hold fire unless commanded otherwise." he instructed as he got out of the vehicle.

Sara parked behind Brass, both Grissom and Warrick pulled their weapons and exited, leaving Sara in the car, in case they had to give chase again.

A fellow officer ran up to Brass with a bullhorn, he nodded his thanks and placed the instrument to his mouth,"Joseph Karrigan, we need to talk to you and your daughter. Nobody will get hurt, we just want to talk."

Complete silence from the stalled vehicle was all that was returned.

The skid had thrown Steve's body to the floor and it was at that moment that Joe Karrigan realized that his son was dead, his lifeless body lay on the floor board, a huge gaping hole in the back of his head.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." He mumbled as he placed the vehicle into park. "Give me that box in the very back Janet, I am going to teach these boys a lesson, ya don't mess with my family."

Janet reached back and retrieved a small cardboard box, afraid not to obey him for fear that he might get mad at her for not telling him that Stevie was dead. "Here you go daddy." Handing him the box over the seat. She looked over to Nick who was still unconscious, you're not going to hurt my Nicky are you daddy?.

Sitting the box down carefully in the passenger seat he pulled out another pipe bomb, he had four left and he was going to make good use of them, he was for sure no one would shoot at them as long as Stokes was in the vehicle, it was time to play hardball."Don't worry honey, I am about to buy our ticket home, your boyfriend's too."

Hopefully you guys are still with me...it got a little quiet with the last two chapters so let me know if you like...Poor Nick needs the writer and the readers to assist!