THIS WOMAN'S WORK
A/N: My apologies for the delay.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
CHAPTER 11
When
you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and
concentrate more on the preservation of the future.
Dian
Fossey
The Graveyard shift gathered in a meeting room donuts and coffee amongst files galore.
Eyes of different colours were now sharing a common denominator: red-red from fatigue, hours of hours of reading, studying and now they were sharing.
Sara was there to share information on her murder investigation of Regine Stokes.
Catherine and Greg were there to discuss what they had so far on Lee Leadbeater.
Warrick was there to discuss what he gathered on Nick's attack.
Grissom sat at the head of the table and announced, "The common denominator in all these cases is Robert Blainey. Somehow, someway he is involved. Sara what did Nick tell you what happened when he went to visit Robert Blainey?"
"They got into an altercation. Blainey almost broke his arm." She answered.
"Yeah!" Warrick muttered, "And within a matter of 24 hours Nick was almost beaten to death."
He pulled out some photos and spread them across the table. Everyone winced at the site of Nick's battered body, particularly Greg.
However, the young criminalist recovered and said, "Do you see that mark on Nick's body, it looks like an insignia from a class ring. It looks like a date on it..198..something."
Grissom pulled the photo over to him and studied it with a magnifying glass.
"Warrick, take these to Hodges after the meeting, see if he can make any matches."
The tall gangly black stood up and said, "Right! But that's not all; check out the bruising along his back, like some kind of combat boots!"
"Regine had boot-like bruises on her back as well." Sara brightened.
"As does Mr. Lee Leadbeater!" Catherine piped up as she pulled out some photos of the deceased man and placed them on the table beside the photos of Nick. Sara then placed photos of Regine next to them.
A match.
"Wait!" Warrick cried out grabbed Regine's file and pulled out some photos of the cement imprints he made at the scene of the murder.
"The treads match!" He announced
"Another job for Hodges, see if he can match these boot treads!" Grissom handed off the photos to Warrick who trotted off to find the ego-challenged lab tech.
"So! I think it's safe to say that we have one suspect in mind for all three cases!" Catherine announced.
"However," Grissom countered, "All we have is circumstantial evidence. Robert Blainey has a tumultuous history with Regine Stokes and Lee Leadbeater."
"Lot's of people have enemies." Sara agreed,
"I think someone should have another word with Mr. Blainey." Catherine announced, "Find out where he was the night Nick was assaulted."
"It's Warrick's case," Grissom told her, "I'll send him over with Sofia whose already dealt with him, so she can brief him on what to expect."
Catherine sighed heavily.
"What!" Grissom looked at her annoyed.
"I feel helpless Grissom!" She said, eyes glaring at him.
"You've got the Lee Leadbeater case!" He snorted not wanting to deal with office politics right now.
"I know but…" Catherine folded her arms and slumped in her chair, "I feel like! You know if I hadn't called Nick out to the field that night, Regine might be still alive."
Tears welled in her eyes and she bit her lip determinedly.
"If someone was out to get her Catherine," Sara said, "They would have found a way."
"Catherine," Grissom said somberly, "I don't think Nick blames you in any way for what happened to Regine. If anything, I think he too busy blaming himself."
A soft knock interrupted them as they turned and saw Wendy standing in the doorway looking hesitant to come in.
Grissom motioned for her to come in.
"I've got the lab results back from Nick's attack. I found blood evidence on the hood that was left behind that didn't belong to Nick. When I ran it, it came back a match to the sample taken from the doggie door at Nick's house the night his wife was murdered."
Everyone sat up straight.
"Unfortunately, there was no hits in the system." She smiled sadly.
"But it does clearly indicate that the person who attacked Nick was there the night Regine was murdered." Sara said with a smile.
"Doesn't mean this person killed Regine," Grissom countered, "But they would know
who did?"
"Thanks Wendy!" Sara told the Lab Tech who smiled and left the room.
A cell phone rang-Catherine's. She looked at the screen and smiled.
"It's Nick calling to tell me he's ready to be picked up." She stood up and ran a hand through her hair.
Grissom and Sara looked at her confused.
"He's coming to stay with me." The blonde criminalist announced.
"Are you sure that's a good idea. You could be risking Lindsay and your mom's safety." Grissom raised an eyebrow wearingly.
"Yeah, well when you're father is a former casino mogul with connections to some of the shadiest characters, it's quite easy to pull a few strings to ensure everyone connected to the family is safe." Catherine smiled mischievously, turned and sauntered away.
The remaining criminalists looked at each other.
"I don't even want to go there!" Sara said.
Grissom looked at Greg, "How's your house guest doing!"
Greg shrugged, "Scared to death."
"Has he said anything to you?" Sara asked.
"No," Greg answered, "I think at this point I need to build his trust. If I come at him both guns blazing, he might bolt on me."
"Where is he now?" Grissom asked concerned.
"Oh he's in the Lab, he's shadowing Hodges!" A small smile broke out on Greg's face.
"Good one!" Sara laughed slightly.
"Well it's only for a while, I think Tre was more interested in Archie's work, so I'll have him go over there when he's done with Hodges." Greg pushed the chair back and stood up, "I'm gonna take him out for lunch and try and see if he'll say anything to me."
"Thanks Greg!" Grissom told the young criminalist, "I think of all us he'll connect with you best."
Greg smiled and made his out of the meeting room leaving Sara and Grissom.
Grissom turned to Sara who had flipped open Regine Stokes file.
"Why are you reading her autopsy results?" He asked, "We know how she died."
Sara looked up from the file, "She was pregnant the day she was murdered."
"Doc Robbins said her uterus indicated that there had been evidence of a pregnancy?" Grissom said.
"According to his autopsy she was least 3 and a half to 4 months along. Wouldn't there be a fetus found in her womb? Or fetal tissue in the blood?"
"Sara her uterus was a mess!" Grissom answered annoyed after all, why is she asking these questions now!
"By why is that if he only raped her? A penis would not create that much damage." Sara said.
Grissom was pensive for a moment.
"What are you getting at Sara?" He finally asked.
"I'm just wondering a fetus that far along is fairly developed, if she had miscarried at the scene, tissue samples would have been found?"
"Unless she was raped with a foreign object and that prompted a miscarriage. There was a fair amount of blood at the scene." Grissom told her.
"Maybe she had an abortion the day of the rape?" Sara speculated.
"Well," Grissom said, "Confidentiality is no longer an issue once the patient has died. So find out who her OBGYN was."
Sara stood up and was somber for a moment.
"When you are going to tell Nick about the pregnancy Grissom?" She asked.
"When the case is solved."
"That could take a while."
"Nick can wait."
Sara looked at Grissom for a moment, picked up the files and left the room not happy with hiss answer.
The Entomologist returned to his office and started to read over the notes of Doc's finding of the autopsy of Lee Leadbeater, Catherine was courteous enough to let him read the files.
Death by extenuation due to laceration of the jugular. The blood had flowed from his body onto the grown leaving a pool. He had been dead for two weeks.
Leadbeater was thinner then his photos had shown. Obviously, he had been kept for weeks before being murdered. But why?
Grissom pulled a magnifying glass out from his desk and studied the wound on the man's neck.
He looked with a look of Eureka.
Then matched them with the blade wound on Regine's neck.
Smooth cuts, like the kind a surgeon would use. They seemed to know exactly where to strike.
He was interrupted by the sounds of foot steps.
Brass walked in with a sly grin and a report.
"When I was interviewing the people at Regine's clinic, one of them told me that Dr. Blainey was on his millionth career."
He set the report in front of Grissom.
"His first career, was that of a Gynacologist?"
Grissom sat up and read the report. It came from the medical board.
Dr. Robert Blainey's medical license will be revoked as of December 1st,1989.
"How is this relevant to our case so he's no longer a gynecologist?"
"It gives us some background on a potential subject, who I might add was one of the few that refused to give us a DNA sample, well. Not refuse, but managed to elude us on several occasions."
Grissom pulled himself up in his seat, "And why he is no longer a gynecologist?"
"He lost his license due to several patients filing sexual harassment cases against him. He comes from a wealthy background and his daddy paid off the patients. It still didn't win him back his license though. I'll call the Medical Board and verify everything."
"And he still managed to get into veterinary school." Grissom smirked.
"Apparently, according to one of the assistants, daddy was president of the University."
"And thanks to Regine, that career ended not so brightly." He leaned back into his chair, "How's Nick by the way?"
Brass shrugged, "Still hurting. Catherine picked him up. I feel really bad about that night. I should have been there."
"You got there when you could Jim," Grissom told him, "Nick didn't want to be watched anymore."
Altman Black Jungle Flight Line plus Safety Toe" Hodges muttered staring at the module.
Warrick studied the screen, the treads of the black boot looked like stepping stones and they matched perfect with the bruising on Nick's back and Regine's as well as the ones found in Brass's back yard.
The gangly black man smiled at Hodges who looked very pleased with himself.
Then he got serious, "How's Nick doing?"
"Honestly, I don't know Hodges, I've been very focused on this case, Greg might know."
Hodges nodded, "You know the military store I called for Grissom were out of these, but they gave me this website where people could order them. But not many people wear combat boots anymore with this EMO trend."
Warrick nodded impatiently, "Gotcha Hodges, so whoever purchased them either was in the military, still in the military, or just has an obsession with all things military."
"Obsessions." Hodges pondered, "I prefer mine to be all things Dukes of Hazzard."
Much to Warrick's relief, Sofia showed up at the door.
"Yeah fill me in late Hodges, I've got a suspect to talk to!" Warrick said backing out of the lab with a slight wave.
------------------------------
Brass cleared his throat "I've tracked down the Blainey's ex's house- Kathleen O'Sullivan, she lives on 121 Springfield Blvd."
"And Dr. Blainey.."
"She's got a few angry neighbours because she's quite the busybody, likes to tell the others how to live, so it wasn't hard to get information about her. They told me that they've seen him around the premises. But not often. However, about two months ago, they also saw a heavyset man walking in with Blainey close behind him."
Grissom shook his head in disbelief, "No one thought to report it."
"No one thought anything of it until Leadbeater's body was retrieved. Seems the couple had all sorts of strange-looking characters going in and out of the house. Gang bangers and other shady types. They thought it was rather strange that such a upper class couple were association themselves with 'riff raff'" Sofia explained making quotation marks with her fingers for riff raff.'
Frowning Grissom asked, "What would a high class couple like that be doing with gang bangers?"
"The question is what does this all have to do with Regine and Lee?" Brass asked tapping the files.
Grissom nodded in agreement"Good question?"
Sara marched back to Grissom's office, she had just met up Bronwyn Bruch, a women man the Lab contracted to do forensic accounting and before she decided to leave, she needed to address this and other issues with her boss.
"Thought you were on the way to meet with Regine's doctor?" The entomologist asked not looking up from his desk-but keenly aware of Sara entering the room.
"There's something else Grissom," Sara continued, "Sara sent the some of the humane society's paper work to our forensic accountant and there seems to be discrepancies in where donations were going?"
"Explains the lawyer being at the crime scene on several occasions." Grissom finished,
"I think Regine uncovered some shady business at the humane society and she was 'silenced." Sara speculated.
"Must have been pretty serious for this to happen."
"But to be raped and murdered like that brutally?" Sara grimaced, "I mean in those cases wouldn't it be more of a direct hit."
"But that ties into Blainey's past behaviour. He's got all the makings of a sexual predator." Grissom hypothesized.
"From what Nick and others have said it was pretty nasty relationship." Sara remarked.
"But Regine was a confrontational woman to begin with, so that's not surprising."
"Makes him a suspect?"
"We have no conclusive evidence linking him to the scenes Sara." Grissom said.
"But a lot of things that are happening seem to be connecting back to him." Sara retorted, "Everything. This guy did it. We all know it"
"Until we have a key piece of evidence linking him to all three crime scenes, all we have are circumstantial evidence and a man with a shady past-none of which makes a criminal."
There was a pregnant pause before Sara concluded," I'll keep working on it!"
"Sara," Grissom warned, "Don't create a hypothesis and then manufacture evidence to legitimize it."
"Grissom!!" Sara was defiant, "This man nearly broke Nick's arm! He's had a volatile past with Nick wife and her colleague and he's a researcher."
"Sara," Grissom, "Your letting your emotions about this case cloud you judgment. Not only about Nick or his wife, but about the issues surrounding his profession and your belief system. But you need to disconnect yourself and try and stay focused on the evidence. If he did, there is something, somewhere that will link us directly to it. Without it, we have no case."
Sara nodded, tears streaming down her face and tried to laugh, "It's almost like that gorilla case I did years back."
Smiling, Grissom responded, "I know how animals ignite a fire in you and despite your difference with Regine-it was the same for her. It's like my passion for insects. We all have something that we love that lights us up when we are around it."
"And now it looks as if whatever she was fighting for killer her. I don't think she was involved in anything illegal Grissom," Sara insisted, "I really think she was killed by someone or some group of people who didn't want her exposing them and Dr. Blainey is connected to them."
"She was defiant," Grissom pondered, "And perhaps someone got tired of it and ended it like the poachers who killed Dian Fossey."
Sara smiled, "The murdered Gorilla lady."
"Jane Goodall once said that the difference between she and Diane Fossey was that Jane liked people and Diane didn't."
"I think she liked people, Grissom. She loved Nick."
Greg was strolling down the hall back to Archie's lab.
It wasn't that he didn't want to be in charge of Tre, it was that the kid reminded him of one those punks that beat the living day lights out of him and his very presence made Greg uneasy.
Still, he was also Nick's little buddy, so he had to trust his friend that this kid was not going to pull a 'fannysmackin' on him.
The kid hadn't said much in the few days he was with the young criminalist. Was more interested in Greg's Playstation and music collection then anything else: too interested in fact which led to Greg bringing him into work to 'shadow' certain Lab workers.
So now he was with Archie or at least that's what he thought when he walked into the A/V Lab and saw Archie sitting there-alone.
"Where's Tre?" Greg asked.
Archie looked up and checked his watch, his face filled with alarm, "He went to the washroom? A half hour ago."
"Fuck!" Greg shouted and raced around the corridors to the men's room and burst in.
It was empty.
Panicking, Greg ran a hand through spiky brown hair and looked in each stall.
No Tre.
Swallowing hard to control his breathing, he rushed out only to run into Gil Grissom.
"Greg!" Grissom asked concerned, "What's wrong?"
"Tre..he's gone!"
"What! I asked you to keep on eye on him."
"He was with Archie and told him he had to use the washroom."
Grissom groaned, "Dammit! I'll have Brass put a BOLO out for him."
He looked at the young criminalist besieged with guilt and put an arm on him his anger lowering, "It's not your fault Greg!"
Warrick Brown strolled around the waiting room of Dr. Blainey, Sofia in tow.
Sofia noticed that there was new receptionist at the desk, a young Asian woman.
"What happened to your colleague?" She asked the girl.
"She left the country; she was saving up money to go back to India to get married." She answered.
Warrick asked, "How do you like working for Blainey?"
"I think she likes it just fine." An authoritative voice answered.
They turned to see the tall, bald man standing before them.
Warrick blew out a breath. This guy had to be at least 6 to 7 feet tall. He was bald as an eagle, thin, yet one could see he was very strong.
When he stood up to shake his man, even Warrick, who was no slouch himself, felt very a little intimidated by him.
Blainey refused to take his hand, and in fact, refused to take his hands out of his pocket which Warrick thought was strange.
"I have nothing to say to you still." Blainey announced standing up straight as an arrow.
"Really?" Warrick asked hands on his hips.
Sofia stepped up to him, "Is there any reason you haven't stepped up to take a DNA test?"
Blainey scoffed, "I haven't been ordered to."
"Do you know anything about the attack on Nick Stokes?" Warrick asked, folding his arms.
"No, I don't."
Warrick kept trying to look at Blainey's hands, but they were shoved deep into his pocket.
"Can we look around your office then?" Warrick asked, "Since you have nothing to hide, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Get a court order and then we will talk." Blainey pivoted abruptly and strolled back to his office.
Warrick looked at Sofia who smirked.
"If that ain't sayin' 'I'm guilty'then I don't know what is." He told the detective.
They two of them made their way back to the parking lot where the Denali sat. The sun was beaming down hotly. Warrick loosened his collar.
"I don't know how we can prove it Sofia, but somewhere in all this mess this guy is at the centre of it."
"The question is." Sofia said to him as she opened the door to the passenger seat, "How is he connected it? What does he have to do with these murders? And if so, why is he doing?"
"Ummm…excuse me.." A soft voice said.
Sofia turned to look at the young Asian receptionist, small leather purse strung over her shoulder, hand held over it tightly.
"Can we help you?" the detective asked raising her sunglasses above her forehead.
"I think I can help you." She said, "You see, I'm not just the receptionist. I'm actually an informant for a group. A group connected to Regine Stokes. My friend who left the country was also an informant and she was collecting information until she got the feeling that Blainey was onto her and so she went back to India. I can tell you more, please let me come with you and please promise me I'll be safe."
The woman's hands were shaking as she held her purse close to her. She was so tiny that a strong wind could blow her away. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with fear and she kept looking over her shoulder nervously. Her hair was done up in a pony-tail.
Sofia looked at Warrick who nodded.
"Let's get her back to the Lab."
Warrick opened the door and introduced himself, "I'm Warrick Brown and you are."
"Amber..Amber Wong."
"Nice to meet you Amber."
"Dr. Stokes was indeed pregnant the day she left my office." Dr. Torez said-a voluptuous, Carribean woman said as she passed the file over to Sara.
Sara flipped through it brief and looked back up at the Doctor, "So, she had no intention of terminating the pregnancy."
"No, not at all, she was going to tell her husband that very night I believe."
"Why was she waiting?"
"Ms. Sidle, she was devastated about the loss of the baby and she blamed herself for it. She felt that had been relaxed and not traveling about as much as she did and working on this cause and that, then the baby would have been fine. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she still held on to that belief." The doctor smiled sadly at the memory.
"Where did she go?" Sara asked not recalling any memory of a traveling Regine.
"Oh she want to Southeast Asia, I think she was in Bangkok with an animal protection group to investigate illegal trades parts."
"Did she do that a lot?" Sara became alarmed. Nick hadn't told her any of this.
But then they hadn't been talking-although she knew that his wife did travel to Asia quite a bit with Lee Leadbeater.
The doctor was confused given that this was not in a normal questioning of medical facts, "Well yes, I actually met her 15 years ago in Africa. I was a med student with Medicine Sans Frontiers and she was working with an animal welfare group dealing with poachers. She caused quite a stir over there."
"In what way?"
The doctor scowled, "Sometimes, she was a bit too confrontational with the poachers. She would get in their faces and literally rip them to shred about what they were doing. Usually the activists try and educate the poachers about the impact their hunting as on the local environment, but Regine was straight out telling them they were no better then serial killers back in America. She was a very passionate woman, a little too passionate at times."
Sara eyed the doctor skeptically, "And that's a problem because?"
"Because dealing with poachers can be very dangerous, they are desperate people trying to make a living for their families and if you feel your only means for survival is being threatened, you'll take drastic measures to ensure that doesn't happen." The doctor explained showing pictures on the wall of herself with an African child. "I eventually took her aside and explained it to her, and she came around."
There was a charged pause before Sara asked, "Do you know Dr. Robert Blainey?"
Anger appeared in the doctor's eyes, "I've heard of him. A friend of mine was molested by him."
"Was he charged."
"Yes. He subsequently had his licensed pulled in 1989." Her voice laced in triumphant, "What does he have to do with this?"
"Did you tell Regine." Sara asked skirting around the question.
"We lost touch after Africa, but she reconnected with me again when she moved here. When she told me she was working with him. I filled her on the details and after that, she found out some scrupulous things about him. Mr. Blainey is not a friend to the animals, or to woman or to anyone who feels superior to."
The dark-haired criminalist looked down and closed the file. "Thank you Dr. Torez."
As Sara got outside, her cell phone rang.
It was Archie.
"Hey Archie what's up?"
"I think you need to come back to the lab. On top of those dog fighting clips I found something else. It was encrypted into the computer."
"So my mother has agreed to loan her room to you for the time being."
Nick smirked and said-his voice raspy-"I'm sure she was thrilled about that."
"Oh yeah, she's got my room!"
"Cat! I don't wanna do this you." Nick grimaced, the pain killers wearing off. He longed for the Vicodin packed away in the Roots gym bag he'd purchased in Quebec City.
"Oh don't worry Nick, I've got a cot I can sleep on in Lindsay's room." Catherine tut-tuted him.
The two criminalists were driving home from the hospital. The doctors were astounded by the Texan's remarkable recovery and although hesitant, they decided that he would be released with weekly follow-ups in the Outpatient Clinic. Visits that would include therapy with a voice therapist to ensure his larynx was healing.
A scar was imminent, but frankly Nick didn't care was still very weak, very sore. His face was returning to its normal shade.
His sleep was going to be worse now that he had another nightmare to deal with. The doctors prescribed him Seroquil which they concluded would help with that. However, Nick hated the drug with a passion. It changed the way food tasted and it did nothing for his sleep, so he went back to Ativan.
Catherine Willows was not very happy about the position she was put in at the moment, not that she was unhappy with her friend and colleague staying with him, but more about being his den mother. She's been ticked off as hell at Grissom ever since he unilaterally took the Regine Stokes case out of her hands and into Sara-a woman who had made life difficult for Nick's now-deceased wife. Catherine didn't buy the 'conflict-of-interest' argument at all. Personally, she felt this was Grissom's way for Sara to have her comeuppance. For him to play Karma and Sara to have her day of reckoning.
But that was okay. She was glad to help. It really was in the best interest of the case because she was so close to Regine and Nick.
She was there when their son died, helping with funeral plans and bringing the baby clothes to the hospital.
She was there for Nick in getting the things needed for the funeral of his wife. She even went over and made sure he was eating and drinking when Brass had to pull a double.
Now, Catherine was the one to look after him. She hoped that by staying with her, she could convince him to come back to work. It had been almost three months since he stopped working and the team was feeling the effects of his absence.
"Nick have you seen the therapist yet or called any of those places for victims of crimes."
"No." He answered.
Catherine sighed in exasperation, "Nicky, I know what you are going through right now."
"I know Cat," Nick answered, clearing his throat painfully, "But there's a difference. You still had Lindsay."
"It was close!" Catherine said looking away biting her lips at the memory.
"I know. I'm sorry Catherine." Nick responded mournfully.
Silence ensued but was interrupted by the sounds of rain drops hitting the windshield and the wipers immediately coming to life. Catherine complained about the amount of rain that Vegas had been getting and wondered aloud if global warming was turning Nevada from a desert to a tropical rain forest with Nick answering back that it probably meant the rain forest would soon be a desert and the sloth would make it's home at one of her father's hotels.
The tension in the car broke with that comment and the two laughed lightly at the thought of a the slow-moving creature hanging from a chandelier in a casino.
Then Catherine ruined the moment by bringing up a touchy subject.
"So Nick, what are you going to do with your house?"
Tension filled the vehicle again.
"What about it?" Nick winced at the mention of his humble abode.
"Well, LVPD has signed it off, so you can go back there if you want to get some things."
The criminalist shook his head vehemently, "I can't do it Catherine."
"I'll go with you Nick. At some point we have to go in and pack everything up. You can't leave it sitting there." Catherine said as she pulled into her drive way and parked the vehicle.
She turned to look at Nick whose eyes had welled up.
"I can't go in there Catherine. There's too many memories." He finally managed to blurt out.
She squeezed his hand tightly and gave the man a minute to regain his composure, "I didn't say today, but you don't want the house to sit there and I'm sure there are things that someday you are going to want for memories sake. I still have some of the gifts Eddie gave me, jewelers and stuff. Lindsay still has a teddy bear he gave her when she was three. I even have some gifts that Sam gave me. Those things help us remember the good times we had with them. Even gives us a feeling of being close."
Tears were streaming down his face. Of all the people he worked with, Catherine was the one he felt he could share so much of his life with. She was like a big sister to him.
"Catherine, I never got a chance to tell you how much I appreciate everything you did for Regine. You treated her like a friend." He said shakily.
"She was a friend Nick." Catherine smiled, "I thought she was a wonderful woman, she was a spark. She had a lot of balls in her to go up against some of these big time corporations."
"Reminds me of someone I know." He smiled back at her, "She thought you were so cool. She said when got a chance she wanted to get some clothing tips from you."
"Oh she dressed wonderfully Nick. She had her own flare about her." Catherine laughed flattered, "I think what I loved about her Nick was how happy she made you and how she challenged your boundaries..by the way were you wearing anything under that kilt!"
Nick laughed and rubbed the back of his forefront and answered coyly, "I stuck with tradition is that enough of an answer!"
Catherine laughed in surprised, "And that's why I liked her. She just brought out a wilder side of you Nick. It was nice to see. I hope that doesn't go away."
Nick sighed and smiled.
"What you are remembering?" Catherine asked, "You know your secrets are always safe with me."
"Well," Nick rubbed the back of his head, "Remember when we went to Lady Heather's and how I was shocked by what I saw."
"Oh yeah!" Catherine answered nodding, "You were like a kid who discovered his parents had sex."
"Well, let's just say that if I went in there now I'd probably be remembering some of things I did with Regine. She was a…"
"Adventurous girl?"
"Very!" Nick smiled, "It was never a dull moment and after a long, horrid shift it was nice to come home to a warm body and release some of that tension and remember there are still some things in the world to enjoy."
Catherine looked at Nick and decided not to tell him that Regine had confided their sex life in her and that she knew about his 'shock' and 'horror' at the Lady Heather House.
"Well," She told Catherine in the bathroom at the Dogs of Eads, "I guess I'm gonna have to show Nick that one can have fun with a little S&M."
"I doubt it!" Catherine moaned, "Mr. Old Fashion he is.."
"Oh he's not that old fashion Catherine..trust me.." She said and then whispered a few things to Catherine whose eyes widened.
She looked at the back of Regine's head, "I'm surprised you have hair left back there."
"Oh I tell him not to pull too roughly! I find a pony tail works!"
Catherine turned to Nick again.
"Nick you still need to deal with the house though. You can't let it sit there. I know a couple of real estate brokers who can help you out. I mean, do you want to still live there?"
"Christ no! I can't live there." The Texan responded alarmed at the mere thought.
"Then you need to look at clearing out and selling." Catherine told him. She really hated having to put this on him, but the sooner he took care of the house, the sooner he could start picking up the pieces for she knew better then anyone how important it was to go on living no matter how much tragedy was thrown at you.
Nick pressed the bandage around the wound and rasped out, "I'm not ready yet."
"I know. When you are, I'm there for you. It can just be the two of us, Nick. Okay."
Catherine said squeezing his hand tighter.
He nodded, sniffling.
They pulled up to the house where the two of them got out and got Nick's bags out of the back. Brass had brought over most of Nick's things earlier feeling remorseful that he hadn't been there when his friend was attacked.
In her kitchen, sat Linday sat cross-legged at the kitchen table, lap top in front of her, scanning a website that read 'Facebook' while munching on a granola bar.
Catherine smiled, "Hi sweetie."
Her daughter looked up, brown eyes widening in surprise to see Nick. Pony-tail bopping away.
"Hi mom." Then Lindsay got up from the table, walked over and gave Nick a hug.
"I'm sorry Nick." She hugged him gingerly conscious of his cracked ribs.
"Thanks Lindsay." He hugged back. The kid was a sweetie and was growing into a lovely young woman who took the bags from his and hauled them off to the room where he was staying.
"Where's grandma?" Catherine asked as she set the bags down in the hallway.
Lindsay came back out and grabbed the remaining bags "Out in the backyard doing her Tai Chi. She said something about channeling some unwanted energy."
Catherine looked at Nick who smiled with amusement. It was going to be interesting staying with the Willows.
"I'm gonna miss talking to Regine on Facebook." Sighed Lindsay as she flopped back down at the table and motioned to her lap top, "She used to message me about all these cool bands, she was old, but cool!"
"Lindsay!" Catherine gasped given the fact that Regine was quite a bit younger then herself. But to a teenager anything over 20 is considered old.
Nick, however, had his attention on something other then age, "On where?"
Catherine had gone into the fridge and pulled out some sandwich meat, bread, mayo and tomatoes, "Oh the equivalent of My Space..a social networking site."
He laughed, "Really, and my wife was on this thing."
Lindsay nodded and motioned him to sit down.
She clicked on a menu at the top of the blue and white page that said 'Friends" and scrolled down to where a picture of Regine and Dexter were.
"See."
Nick nodded, "Can we see it?"
"Done." The teenager announced triumphantly.
The page loaded and there was Regine's profile page. Lindsay pushed the lap top over and told her mom she had to get ready for soccer practice.
Nick was intrigued and didn't even notice that Catherine had set down a salami sub for him.
He looked at a section called "Mini Feed'
Regine joined Obama For President Group
Nick strolled down taking notes of the 'Friends' she had made and then saw the list of groups she was in.
"Nick," Catherine said, "Are you sure you should be doing this.." Her blue eyes narrowing with concern for her colleague.
"Just checking Catherine, my wife didn't tell me she was on Facebook." Nick didn't take his eyes off the screen.
"Maybe she was embarrassed. It's usually used by teens."
Lindsay bopped into the kitchen in soccer sorts and red shirt.
"Not really mom. Nick you should click to her friends and see who she had listed. She had a lot of friends."
Nick bought the arrow back up to the top of the page and clicked on it.
At least 120 friends his wife had. Most he knew, but some he didn't recognize.
"You know." He pondered thoughtfully, "Maybe I can a get an idea of what her and Lee were up to before she died through this page."
"Not your place Nicky." Catherine ready to grab the lap top from him.
"Catherine.." Nick shook his head gripping it tightly, "I gotta do something. For her..at least let me find out what it was that got her killed..maybe I can finish it for her. That's all I'm doing."
Catherine leaned back into the kitchen chair sighting heavily. She knew how he felt, probably more so then the rest of the team. It was agonizing to watch your loved murder being handled so matter-of-factly and professionally knowing full well you have the skills and know-how to solve it yourself, but having to stand back and let the team do it's work in its slow and methodical answer.
Nick was always the emotional one of the team. The impulsive one. However, time, age and experience had all but tamed the eager dog about him. Catherine could see that young, impulsive Nick Stokes coming from a place of rage and vulnerability.
Catherine had to trust that Nick would keep his word and simply "finish" what Regine had started.
The blonde criminalist ran a hand through her hair and nodded, "Okay let's go through this Facebook page.."