Chapter 12

The little boy walked onto the playground at school. He was early for his classes but he didn't want to be at home at the moment. His parents were fighting again, so he was at the school. He always liked to come early so he could sit on the swings and watch the other parents drop their kids off. He wished his family could be like that. He sighed as he kept his eyes focused on his favorite swing and didn't see the bulky item lying on the ground. He tripped and fell over something and smacked face first into the ground. Lucky for him it wasn't too hard and he managed to scramble away from the item.

"Ouch, that hurt." He whispered feeling the tears well in his eyes.

He glanced over and screamed loudly. He could hear feet rushing towards him as he screamed as loud as he could. He was staring into the cold dead eyes of a woman who had been murdered.


He laughed as he saw the commotion. The teachers were desperately trying to control the screaming child who was terrified. He loved watching the chaos and confusion that he caused. Leaving a dead body on the playground of an elementary school would definitely make him the center of attention. It was the attention he liked but the smell of death that he loved. He grinned as he watched a young woman bend and pick up the fearful child and carry him screaming away. Now things would get better.


Nick was half-asleep beside Krisalyn's bed when he felt his pager vibrate. He groaned as he woke up and checked the pager to see that it was Grissom. He frowned, coming fully awake at that point. The only reason Grissom would be paging him away from Krisalyn at the moment was if their serial killer had killed again. He quietly pushed the chair back and got to his feet. He walked silently out the door and smiled when he saw a CSI from day shift walking towards him. He nodded his head hello in acknowledgment and then left the hospital. He pulled out his cell phone and called Grissom for an address.


Krisalyn woke up and noticed the female CSI sitting next to her bed. She frowned when she noticed it was the day-shift ballistics expert. She knew this woman was good friends with J.J., in fact the two of them were actually going to be roommates.

"Where's Nick?" She asked seriously.

"He had a case come up. Your serial killed again." The woman said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Krisalyn could feel her anger rising. She wanted to be back in the field, finding evidence. She grabbed the controls and flipped the television on. She waited patiently until she had flipped to the channel she wanted and set the controls aside. She could already tell by the look on the woman's face that this station was annoying her, that's why she had chosen it.


Nick arrived at the scene where Sara and Greg were already processing. He frowned as Grissom's earlier warning about Nick and Krisalyn needing to be the only CSI's working this case.

"What are you two doing here?" Nick asked walking carefully up to them.

"Processing. Relax, we know the rules, it's your case." Greg said thinking this was about Nick being possessive.

"You do realize if anyone works the case other than who he wants on it, he kills them right?" Nick warned with an arched brow.

"Is that a proven fact?" Sara asked straightening from her position.

"Yes." Nick nodded slowly.

"Well then I guess we are just going to have to watch our backs a little better." Greg said with a shrug.


He watched the two CSI's he didn't want there with an angry scowl. He had known this would be the scene that Stokes would arrive without anyone, it should have been. Well if these two wanted to play Russian Roulette with their own lives that was fine with him. He was going to make everyone who disobeyed him pay dearly. He watched the two work fast and efficiently and had to laugh. Stokes had probably warned him of his tendency to kill crime scene investigators that shouldn't be working his scenes and did. He had a new plan already forming in his mind and he couldn't wait to act on it. HE straightened as a new thought also entered his mind, Krisalyn didn't have her most attentive bodyguard with her. She might have a bodyguard but not the one who would do anything for her. He laughed as he silently started jogging away from the crowd and towards a side street where he had hidden his car. It was time to finally get things rolling the way they should have been.


Krisalyn had a bad feeling, one that just wouldn't go away. It was squeezing her chest and making her wince in pain. She glanced over and saw the annoyed look was still present on her bodyguards face. Sighing she had a decision and called for the nurse.

"Yes?" The nurse asked when she entered the room.

"I would like to see my doctor. I think I am going to sign out AMA." Krisalyn said simply. She knew it wasn't the wisest decision, especially since there was a huge chance her insurance wouldn't cover her stay here if she signed out AMA but she had to do it. Something in this hospital was off and she could feel it.


He snuck in and noticed the rushing of bodies as everyone went their own way. He had to laugh as no one noticed him enter the first patient room. This was going to be the best one yet. He had managed to keep his attention diverted and he knew where all the cameras were already so they would never get his face. He silently approached the sleeping young woman and pulled out the syringe he had managed to steal. This was going to be an easy distraction kill. He pushed the needle into the proper part of the IV bag and injected the medication to enter through her own IV. He pocketed the syringe and then silently left the room to wait.


Krisalyn heard the commotion as alarms started ringing and people were running. "We're too late." She murmured to herself. She knew he was here and he was going to be coming for her next.


He watched the commotion from his vantage point and laughed softly to himself. He had to admit that he was good at what he did. This moron's had no clue that he was standing just a few feet away from all of them, waiting for the opportunity to strike again. He watched as a doctor that he recognized materialized out of nowhere. He sucked in a breath and averted his eyes. That was impossible! That doctor couldn't possibly be here! He felt his rage growing as he turned his back to the commotion and started towards the elevator base. He wasn't going after Krisalyn with that man here today.


Nick studied the battered body lying before him on the ground and sucked in deep breaths. This woman had been tortured, that much was clear. He snapped some photo's and looked around him, trying to get inside this guy's head. "Why did he dump you here?" Nick whispered to the lifeless woman lying in front of him. "Why in a playground?"

"Uh, Nick are you almost done here?" Came the voice from behind him.

"Yeah, go ahead and take here." Nick said nodding when he realized he was finished.


He was sitting alone in his apartment, staring at the pictures on the walls. There were so many pictures, way to many to count. They were all his victims, they were all the dead bodies of the people who annoyed him. He grinned as he looked at the scrapbook that contained every newspaper clipping written about him, most printed off the internet. He had to laugh at the names they were giving him, no one was even close. Soon the FBI would jump onboard, prepared to take over and he would have to let them know, once again, that he would kill more and hurt more people if they didn't keep out of it. He already knew the drill and he was sure everyone else knew it as well.


Nick sat in one of the conference rooms looking through the pictures he had taken when he heard Warrick come in. He looked up, "run this with me?" He asked him simply.

"Yeah sure why not." Warrick said with a shrug.

"All right, female vic, comes home from work and does her thing at home." Nick said starting things off.

"Suspect is watching from outside, waiting for the moment to strike." Warrick picks up.

"Victim turns in for the night, there are no lights on, there is no one else home." Nick continued with his eyes glancing through every photo.

"Suspect waits a little while, then sneaks into the house." Warrick said thinking.

Nick looks down at the pictures, trying to decide whether or not she dies in her own bed. Shaking his head he decides she doesn't, not the way she was tortured. "He makes sure she stays out cold, probably gives her something or hits her over the head. Then he carries her out to his vehicle for transport."

"He takes her somewhere where he tortures her and then kills her." Warrick said after glancing at the photo's spread out on the table.

"When she's dead he wraps her body in something and transports her to the playground and dumps her." Nick finished.

"Elementary school playground, that's just low and sick." Warrick said shaking his head.

"Yeah well I don't think this guy cares what we think." Nick said with a shake of his head. "What this woman must have gone through."

"We won't know until the ME comes back." Warrick said slowly, already forming a picture in his mind.

"Yeah well I do know one thing, this girl didn't have an easy death. If I can say one thing, it's that she suffered throughout this whole thing." Nick said with a sigh.


Krisalyn had had enough of the day shift CSI who wouldn't leave her alone. It seemed like the girl had nothing but horrible things to say about her and she wanted to deck her. She smiled when she saw Sara at the door and was relieved to see her hand orders to the CSI sitting next to her.

"Well looks like I'm outta here." The woman said grabbing her things and leaving.

"Thank goodness you got here when you did, I was ready to choke her or worse." Krisalyn admitted slowly.

Sara laughed and took the vacated seat next to Krisalyn. "Yeah I could see that look on your face when I walked into the room. It was actually kind of funny."

"No it wasn't." Krisalyn grumbled and leaned back into her pillows.

"Yeah it really was." Sara said with a smile. She held up the bag that was in her hands and Krisalyn felt her mouth water. She smiled and put the bag on the tray that was in front of the bed.

"You must have spent some time in this hospital yourself." Krisalyn chuckled.

"No but I have been in a hospital. By the way Katharine went over to Nick's earlier today to get the room ready. Grissom talked to the doctor and managed to convince him you would be safe out of this place." Sara informed her with a smile.

"Thank goodness." Krisalyn sighed with relief. Then she frowned as the first part finally sunk in. "I really don't want to stay at Nick's place."

"Why not?" Sara asked as she stopped spreading out salads with some French fries, she was after all a vegetarian.

Krisalyn eyed the French fries with much more hunger than she was eyeing the salads. She sighed with pleasure as she picked up a salty fry. "I just don't want to stay with him." She said softly.


He typed away on the computer, trying to find a random victim. He was getting frustrated and angry, his plan not working the way it should. Someone was going to pay for the way things were going and someone was going to pay dearly.