A/N: Holy Cajoly.. I was only going to take a couple of days to write this one, but I didn't mean to take this long. Sorry for wait!
"Travers!" announced a very determined Eric as he walked through the threshold into trace. "Please, tell me you got something."
Glancing up, Travers smirked at Eric's dedication to the case. When it involved his team members, not even the demons of Hell could stop him.
"Lucky for you, Calleigh found an interesting trace on the doorknob of Natalia's backdoor." The British tech peered back to the computer monitor and studied the test currently processing. "I have an idea of what it could be, but I'm not sure."
"The suspect actually left something behind?" Eric questioned confusedly as he placed his hands atop the elongated table. "I don't recall anything being found in Natalia's car."
"Maybe he slipped up," Travers shrugged.
"Yeah, maybe he did." Clicking his teeth together, Eric scrunched his brows and carefully considered the possibly. He's been really cautious with his other letters. Why not with this one? "Well, in any case, it's a possible break for us. How long before you find out what it is exactly?"
"It shouldn't be more than a couple of minutes." Both men nodded before Eric heard his name being called, and in a rather energized manner.
"Eric," repeated Calleigh from the lab hallways. She waited to speak until she was closer to her counterpart. Looking around discreetly, an action the team adopted at the start of case, Calleigh lowered her voice. "The prints we found on Natalia's last letter, they match the unknowns from the previous letters."
"Didn't we decide those were from the original handler of the materials?" Eric asked.
"Eric, this is more than a coincidence," Calleigh stated, alarmed. "The prints obviously belong to the stalker."
"If the stalker was from the lab, the prints would have matched to someone in the database," Eric pointed out. Shaking his head, the CSI let out a grave exhale, realizing how hard the case just became.
Which means our suspect pool is bigger than we originally assumed, he thought.
"Analysis is done, Delko," Travers interrupted, poking his head out from the lab door. As Calleigh and Eric trailed back into the room, Travers scurried over to the computer monitor and swung it to their view. "The sample contained Magnesium Sulfate, Phosphate, and Potassium Nitrate; fertilizer."
"Rose fertilizer, Eric," Calleigh mentioned. Noticing the men's sudden reaction, she shrugged. "My mom used to be an avid gardener."
Eric let out a subconscious laugh, a timid smile on the tip of his lips. She never ceases to amaze me. Averting his current thoughts, Eric brought himself back to the case. "Is it possible to narrow it down to a brand?"
"Normally, no," Travers said as he scrunched his lips and continued to read off the information. "However, further analysis shows contents pertaining to organic fertilizer. Organic brands also include bone and fish meal."
"Natural elements," Calleigh added.
"Exactly," Travers affirmed. "Not to mention, while all fertilizers contain an N-P-K ratio, each ratio is different." Pulling up a new window, the lab technician began typing into a search engine his findings. His brows rose at the limited list before his eyes." This particular ratio is used by 3 Organic brands: Rise'n Shine, Rose Delight, and Secret Garden."
"Alright, I'll start making some calls," Calleigh stated as she pulled her cell phone out and walked away with a powerful step.
"Wait a minute, Calleigh," Eric whispered, following her close. He quickly reached his hand to stop her, his fingers gently brushing against her bare arm. Pressing his lips together, Eric brought himself closer to her ears, Calleigh chilling at his warm breath. "Tripp and I visited a flower shop Ryan bought Natalia's flowers from the other day."
"Could the stalker have been following Ryan before?" she pondered aloud.
"I don't know, but it seems like this trace is more than just a coincidence," the Cuban noted. Sighing, he anxiously rubbed a hand across his shaved head.
"Eric," Calleigh interrupted heedfully, "this entire case seems that way."
"So, you know what to do?" the stranger asked, his voice low and steady.
Mark, clutching his fist into tight balls, rolled eyes his in irritation. He hated this, absolutely hated this. I should just say no, he silently decided. I should tell him to shove it and walk away!
Finally bringing his focus to the man, Mark noticed his irate demeanor. Those eyes of devilish proportions scared him. He couldn't say no for fear of what this man could do. After all, he did have the power to put Mark away for a long time.
At least, that's what the stranger kept telling the teenager. Gulping down the ball of nerves in his throat, Mark sheepishly nodded his head.
"Good," the man said and looked at his watch. If they were going to succeed in this, they needed to get the ball rolling now. "We better get going. You don't want to be late for work." As he plastered a grandiose smirk upon his face, the stranger turned on his heels to head out the door.
When he heard no footsteps, the man swung around and faced Mark again. The boy remained seating in the classroom chair, his eyes fixated to a single patterned tile on the floor.
"What are you waiting for? A fire to start?" the man inquired with detest. "I said let's go!"
"No," Mark suddenly announced, grinding his teeth.
Moments before, as the man began to leave, her face came to him, her beautifully innocent face. Natalia Boa Vista had never done anything to him. Though the two neighbors didn't have a strong conversational relationship, the CSI was always a delight to Mark. He wasn't the greatest student, a trait his parents more than emphasized on a daily occurrence. Even then, Natalia encouraged him to continue.
If you quit, the world wins, she once told him. If only he had listened to her the moment he bought the drugs, then none of this would be happening.
I need to protect her, Mark courageously declared, protect her from this lunatic.
"Did you say 'no' to me?" the man growled angrily.
"I won't do it," Mark replied, his stature becoming confident. "I'm going to the police and telling them what you're doing."
"Really?" the man retorted and began a blaring laugh. He flailed his arms up in hysterics, pounding his hands down to his lap. "You-," he started as he attempted to catch his breath. "What are you going to tell them? That you aided and abetted in the stalking of a government employee?"
"I'm just an accomplice!" Mark exclaimed. "They'll throw the law harder at you than at me."
"Wanna bet?" the man stated wickedly. "I'll tell them it was all you, that poor little Mark with a drug habit needed someone to blame."
"I'll them the truth," Mark stated earnestly, though his eyes were desperate and pleading.
"Who do you think they'll believe?" the man asked cunningly. "A teenager with bad grades? Or a cop? Either way, you're going down."
Once again, Mark gulped down the ball of nerves that took refuge in his throat. He was right; the cop was right. There was no way they would take a teenager's word over a man who let him off with a warning more than a week ago.
Mark Langley was stuck, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it, at least nothing he could think of.
"Fine," Mark stated bitterly through his teeth. Pushing himself out of the desk, he followed the cop out of the classroom and into the hallway.
"Quick question," the patrol officer mentioned as they walked the bare, echoing hallway, "I'm a cop, so I can get into a school on a Sunday with ease, but…how did you get in here?"
The teenager casually reached into a pocket of his faded cargo pants and pulled out a clump of keys. "I'm friends with the janitor."
"Ha!" the cop chuckled, placing an arm around Mark who instantly tensed, "of course you are. That's why you're the best assistant I've ever had!"
As Mark trailed out of the school with the cop to their destination, a wave of nausea overcame his stomach. If he didn't already hate this situation, the teenager was coming close to hating himself.
A/N: Gasp! Congrats to those who figured out it was a cop! But which cop? Have you even met this one yet? Keep the guesses coming! Also, let me know how this chapter went. I'm super sick all of a sudden, so I don't really have a clear mind to edit it properly, bleck!