The gym bag on the bed was packed and she was ready. She hated waiting; it made her nervous. She hated hospitals even more, and she was anxious to leave. She had been for days, and now, finally, they were letting her go...and Steve was late. Didn't that just figure? He was being such a space cadet lately. She wasn't happy about what had happened to them either, but dwelling on it wasn't the way to handle it. Obsessing about it was not going to change what happened.
"Looking for a ride, little girl?"
Her face broke into a wide grin and she spun around. "Bobby!"
She ran into a hug. Looking past him, she smiled at Eames. "Hi, Alex."
"How are you feeling, Kelsey?"
She stepped back from Goren and looked at both of them. "I'm feeling good now that I'm getting out of this place. Where's Steve?"
Eames answered, "He's in the middle of something so he asked us to came to get you."
"In the middle of what?"
Goren smiled. "An engine."
Kelsey looked confused. "A what?"
Eames elbowed her partner. "He's been staying with Bobby's mechanic friend Lewis. They're in the middle of rebuilding an engine."
"Oh. I'll bet Steve loves that."
"Yes, he seems to."
Goren lifted the gym bag from the bed and said, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. I already signed away my life and the life of my first-born so they'd let me go. Let's get out of here before they think of something else."
With a smile, he followed the two women from the hospital room.
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Kelsey settled herself in the back seat of the Explorer. Goren turned in his seat to look at her. "I'm really sorry we didn't get up to see you, Kelsey. We're in the middle of a difficult case, so we haven't had a lot of time. We haven't found out much about what happened to you guys, either. Steve didn't give us much to go on."
"I'm surprised he could give you anything to go on. I've never seen him like that, and if I ever do again, he's gonna be the one needing the hospital. Idiot."
"What can you tell us about the party?"
"I wasn't very comfortable there, and I have no idea why Steve wanted to go. It was supposed to be a small party, but it got out of hand pretty quickly."
Goren frowned and glanced at Eames, then looked back at Kelsey. "It wasn't a small party?"
"Well, compared to New Year's Eve on Times Square it was small. For what it was, though, no, it wasn't a small party. There had to be at least 200 people there if there were ten."
"Steve said there were about 60."
"Steve was in no condition to judge."
"Any drugs?"
She laughed. "You name it, they had it."
Goren ran a hand over his hair. "Um, did he do any drugs?"
"No. He's not into that. If he was, I'd never stay with him. He smokes some dope and he drinks from time to time, but that's it."
"And you?"
"You didn't check my system for drugs?"
"I want to hear it from you, Kelsey."
"I don't do drugs, Bobby. Not even pot. And alcohol makes me sick. I may not look like they type of person who stays clean, but I do."
He smiled at her. "I learned a long time ago never to judge a person by appearance. And your blood was clean." He shifted in his seat. "There's a big difference between 60 people and 200, drugs or no drugs."
"We were at two parties. He probably just doesn't remember the second one. That was the big one. There were probably a hundred people there when we got there, and it kept on growing."
"Where was it?"
"Down by the Holland Tunnel. The first one was up in the Village, but we didn't stay long. I didn't care for the crowd there."
"And the second one?"
"A lot wilder, a lot more to watch."
"Um, does the name Sharon mean anything to you?"
"There was a girl at the second party trying to come on to Steve. I think her name was Sharon. I didn't much care, but it was her fault we found ourselves in trouble. Her boyfriend was drunk as hell and I have no idea what he'd been taking, but he didn't take too kindly to her flirting with Steve. He and two of his buddies started in on Steve. I tried to stop the whole thing, but I don't remember anything after that." She frowned. "But there were three of them and one of him. That wasn't fair. Sharon just sat there with a goofy grin on her face. I was pissed."
Goren flipped through the file in the binder on his lap. He pulled out the morgue shot of the female victim from the party and showed it to Kelsey. "Does she look familiar?"
Kelsey's face turned pale. "That looks like Sharon."
Eames glanced at her partner. "That's why she didn't answer her phone."
He slid the photo back into the folder and pulled out the one of the male victim found in the room with her. "This one?"
"That was one of her boyfriend's buddies. What happened?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out. Do you have any idea what time it was that Steve got into that fight?"
"Sometime after midnight. Maybe 12:30. I wasn't paying too much attention. We left the party in the Village at around ten."
"Um, look, Kelsey...I think I want you and Steve to stay with Lewis for a few days. We can stop by your place for some clothes."
"Why?"
He met her eyes. "Just trust me, okay?"
She held his gaze. "Okay, Bobby. I trust you."
He met Eames' eyes before turning back to the window. He had no idea what to make of this at all.
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Kelsey turned the key in the lock and entered the apartment, with Goren and Eames right behind her. She stopped dead. The place was trashed. Eames said quietly, "Let me guess...it doesn't usually look like this."
Kelsey replied, "Just because I live with a guy doesn't mean I live like a guy. This place is always clean."
Eames pulled out her phone as Goren snapped on a pair of gloves. "Stay here," he cautioned.
"I'm not going anywhere," she answered, clearly unsettled.
Eames approached him as he knelt beside the couch, which was torn to ribbons. "CSU is on the way. Is that blood?"
The stuffing near the center of the couch was stained dark. "I think so." He turned his attention toward the end table between the couch and the wall. "Uh, Eames..."
He moved aside a scattering of paper that had once been a book. Sitting in the middle of the debris was a tomato...with one bite taken from it.
