Hey guys!
Here's the next chapter! The story's going to be a bit longer then I actually intended, but I think it's worth it! Enjoy!
The next day, Greg was doing some research on the lab's computer. He had received a few phone calls from an unknown number and had his suspicions. He sat there for five minutes when Nick walked in. "Hey buddy. What are you doing there?"
Nick obviously decided to act like nothing happened between the two yesterday and Greg thought it would be best to play along. "Did you get phone calls from an unknown number yesterday?"
"No. Did you try to reach me?"
Greg gave him a look. "Why should I call you from an unknown number?"
"I don't know, I'm sure you'd have your reasons. What's this about?"
"This number called me four times yesterday." He showed Nick the number on the screen. "They hung up every time I answered."
"So someone's playing a phone prank on you. What made you think they called me, too?"
"I'm thinking this is Mrs. Douglas' number."
"...What?!" Nick pushed the chair Greg was sitting on to the side and sat down in front of the computer himself.
"Relax, it's not the one we have in her file. But that doesn't mean it couldn't have been her, right?"
"...I guess. But why would she call you and hang up?"
Greg shrugged. "Maybe she doesn't have the courage to talk."
"But why would she call you?"
"I don't know, but she was the first person that came to mind, you know? The number is a prepaid cell phone, there's no way to find out who it belongs to."
Nick let himself get caught up in Greg's theory for a moment, but soon realized it wasn't a good idea to even think about this. "You know what? No. This wasn't Mrs. Douglas. Somebody else was dialing your number, probably some teens having fun with you. Let it go."
Greg rolled his eyes. Nick was acting like he was obsessing over this. He did, but he didn't realize that. "I just thought it was weird that..." His cell phone's ringtone interrupted him. "Again this number!"
"Gimme that." Nick grabbed the phone and answered it. "Mrs. Douglas? Is that you? ...Hung up again." When he received a look by Greg, he went on. "That doesn't mean it's her. Just forget about it, alright? Block the number if that's what you need to take your mind off of it."
"Would you stop acting like I'm a paranoid freak? It's really not that far-fetched that she's trying to contact us after she observed us."
"She didn't observe us. She was just watching us from her car..."
"You're not defending her, are you?" They got in an argument about whether or not Nick was defending her, if and what he was talking with her yesterday and other things when Russell walked in.
"What's going on, guys?" he asked confused.
The guys looked at each other in anger. "Tell him, Nick. Tell him what you were talking about with Mrs. Douglas yesterday!"
"For the last time, it's none of your business!" Nick yelled.
All the time he denied talking to her. Greg looked at him all surprised. "...It's not? You're sure about that?"
Nick rolled his eyes, knowing Greg was right. "Russell, try your luck at calming him down, I don't have the patience today." Nick walked out.
"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?!" Greg yelled after him.
"...Is there any way to calm you down?" Russell asked with a smirk on his face.
The young CSI sighed. "Why is he being such a jerk? He's acting like this doesn't concern me at all."
Russell sat down next to him. "Does it really matter what he was talking about with that woman?"
He shook his head. "Probably not. But I don't want him to act like he has to go through this alone."
"...So you're supporting him by yelling at him?" Russell couldn't help but laugh.
"I didn't mean to yell at him. He..." Greg stopped after he noticed something Russell said a moment ago. "Wait. So he did talk to her?"
Russell patted Greg's shoulder as he got off his seat. "Give it a rest."
Greg followed Russell out of the lab. "Wait! You know what they talked about?!"
"I do." Russell walked down the lab's corridor, with Greg tagging along.
"...So? What did they talk about?"
"Is this your way of... being there for Nick?"
Greg rolled his eyes. He got caught. Trying to help Nick go through this was one reason he wanted to know what he talked about with Mrs. Douglas, but not the only one. "Come on."
"I don't think you have to know."
"...What?! Russell! Why is no one ever telling me anything?"
"Could you stop acting like a kindergarten kid? I've told you a hundred times, there's no need in questioning my decisions!" Russell walked into his office and shut the door, leaving Greg standing outside with a confused and angry look.
An unknown number had called Greg another five times today and he was starting to lose his mind over this. He was sure it was Mrs. Douglas but could do nothing about it. He couldn't even prove it was her, which got him pretty frustrated. He walked up to Nick, who was sitting in the break room, having a cup of coffee, and handed him the cell phone. "Here! I can't take this any longer!"
"...What are you talking about?" Nick grabbed the phone and took a look at it.
"She keeps calling!"
"Who?"
"...Martha Stewart, asking to clean my apartment. Who the hell do you think is calling?! Mrs. Douglas!"
"Alright, calm down, you're not making any sense. Why do you want me to take your phone? Just block the number like I told you."
"I already did, now a new number keeps calling. Don't tell me you still think it's just a bunch of teenagers pranking me."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "That is odd."
"Thank you for stating the obvious! Will somebody finally tell me what's going on?"
Nick sighed annoyed. "Take a seat, I'll fill you in..." He told Greg everything about what went down the other day. Nick approached Mrs. Douglas right after Greg walked into the police station. He wanted to tell her to leave them alone and that she would get in trouble if she'd come near them again. But he didn't get the chance. Instead, she said some threatening stuff towards Nick, but especially towards Greg. "...That's why we didn't want to tell you. We didn't want to upset you or scare you."
"...What exactly did she say?"
"Doesn't matter. She won't get the chance to get near us. There's no need to worry, we..."
Greg interrupted him. "You don't have to patronize me, you should've told me earlier. I feel stupid about our argument now."
"Well you should," Nick said jokingly. "It's alright, I just can't help it. I always feel like I have to protect you."
"Yeah well I appreciate it, but I'd rather be treated like an adult." After a short pause, he went on. "What are we gonna do about her now?"
"There's not much we can do right now. We told the DA and he said he'd take care of it." Nick had a thoughtful look on his face. Despite telling Greg not to, he did worry about this himself.
"Well, and now? I mean, are we safe? Does she know where we live or..."
"Greg, stop it. That's why I didn't want you to know. I can see you thinking up scenarios about this, just stop it. She won't get a chance to hurt us, you hear me? We won't let her."