I'm Out ch12
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Ch12: Connection
"Oh dios mio. Hurry up!" Garcia said sitting on the tailgate wiping the sweat dripping down her forehead.
"I would go faster but my hands are cuffed." Nick said angrily stabbing the shovel into the hard sand. Nick was digging a hole in the middle of the great Nevada desert. The thought of it being his own grave made Nick work slower. The fact that his hands were cuffed together made him work slower and that the sand was hard.
"Shut up and keep digging." She says waving the gun at him. Nick felt blisters on his hands and hi shirt stuck to his body as it was soaked with sweat. Beads of sweat were dripping off of his forehead and arms as the desert heat pounded away at him. Nick wiped his forehead on his sleeve and cursed his luck.
"All I wanted was a normal life. Maybe this is a normal life for me." Nick mumbled under his breath as he scraped away at the sand.
"Enough of all this southern proverb and Zen shit just dig!" Xiomara yelled as Jeffery woke up from a nap. "Watch this fool as I sleep. I'm serious, anything happens..." she says sternly pointing at him.
"Geez I got it." he says still sleepy. He took her spot on the tailgate as she moved to sleep in the back seat.
"Tomar la fotografĂa." 'Take the picture.' Garcia ordered. Nick was confused but remained digging. He heard the camera take his picture and started to grow very scared and confused.
"You are not going to get away with this." Nick mumbled. Jeffery stood up and Nick looked up as Jeffery punch him. Nick drops the shovel and falls in the hole as he feels Jeffery's fist and boots hit his head and torso. He hears a gunshot and the attack stops.
"Stop! You are suppose to watch him and not try to kill him." Garcia said pulling Jeffrey out of the hole. "Just watch him! Stokes, get up and dig!"
"I need to see Mr. Russell!" Lauren yelled at the front desk, as her brother Dave tried to hold her back.
"ma'am, Mr. Russell is not available right now." Judy said trying to reason with the distraught woman.
"Get him available! I need to see him please..." Lauren said breaking down. Sara heard the commotion and got DB. Once Lauren saw the pair she became very distraught. "Mr. Russell..." she said choking back on her tears holding up her phone to them. She dropped the phone and fell to her knees where her brother knelt down next to her and tried to console her. Sara picked up the phone and handed it to DB, gasping. There was a picture of Nick digging away in the desert and the caption read have one good last look.
"Bring this to Archie." DB said swallowing hard, handing the phone to Sara. He and Dave brought Lauren into his office to gather her. "Lauren, who sent this too you?" she shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't... I don't know." Lauren said trying to compose herself. "I got it about a half an hour ago. You said Nick was alright! He's in trouble! Please don't let anything happen to him." she said crying again.
"DB..." Greg said from the doorway. DB went to Greg hoping he had something new to ease Lauren's nerves. "Cath needs us in the observation room. Says its important." he said. DB quietly excuses himself and joined everyone in the observation room to see a huge flow chart on the board.
"Sorry, I had to calm down Lauren."
"How is she?" Catherine asked.
"A wreck... what's this?" DB asked pointing to the flow chart.
"Now, I was chasing down a lead thinking that McKeen was behind this. So I wanted to know how McKeen and Xiomara crossed paths and what the connection is to Nick besides the obvious."
"Maybe its Jeffery Melendez?"
"No, that's where the flow chart comes in."
"So who holds all knowledge?" DB asked looking at the chart; Finn rolled her eyes at the Zen.
"Lauren..."
"What?" DB asked but then thought about it for a moment. "It would make sense them for her to receive the photo then us. But how?"
"Alright, stay with me now. Lauren who is or was dating Nick was engaged to David Winnock, McKeen's son. It was a nasty break up. Lauren's brother Dave is a marine who was in the same unit as Garcia and Melendez. Dave and Garcia dated for a brief time. Garcia and Melendez both worked security at several of the clubs when Getta owned them and then when McKeen got them." Catherine said as DB watched in awe.
"So this whole thing might not be about Nick or revenge against us? This might be revenge to her for breaking his son's heart and now that he's gone." DB said presenting a new idea.
"These are all great ideas but these don't get us any closer to finding Nick?" Finn said.
"They sent us a photo. Maybe we can find the geotag or figure out where he is based on what is in the photo?" Catherine said, everyone moved to the AV lab in a big mob.
"Greg is running the geotag and I'm trying to find points of interest." Archie said anticipating all the questions.
"Well there in the desert somewhere…" Catherine said stating the obvious.
"I can take the shadow and figure out what part of the desert would see that shadow effect during that time." Archie said typing away on the map and finding less area that had to be searched. DB updated Brass as he started to move. They were going to find Nick even if they had to search every little part of desert by foot.
Nick tiredly stabs the dirt as he finished digging. His body sore and achy from Jeffrey's previous assaults. He looked up at the sky fearing that this would be the last time he'd ever see it. The sky was the lightest blue he'd see it in a while. So clear. So beautiful. So peaceful. He lowered his head to see Xiomara and Jeffery inspecting the hole.
"Ready?" Xiomara asked Nick raising the gun at him. Nick lowered his head feeling tears flow down his cheeks. He had spend these last days like a chump being a brat and selfish when he should've appreciated everything he had when it was in his grasp not standing in his soon to be grave. He was blessed with great friends and coworkers that was his family. Nick didn't need a normal life because he lives an extraordinary life. He remembers his mother telling him that he was going to be the one she would have to always worry about and boy oh boy was she right to worry. "Ready?" Xiomara asks again.
"Yeah..." Nick licks his lip and feels more tears, as he gave a subtle nod. He hears a shoot and wetness on his face but feels no pain. He gasps as he opens his eyes just long enough to see Jeffery fall in the hole as he bled from the neck. Nick felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack as Jeffery's body collapsed on to Nick.
"Bury him." she instructs coldly as she moves the shovel into Nick's grasp.
"Come on, or help me god. I'll shoot you too."
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