Author's Note: Unfortunately, this is a significantly slower chapter, but I still felt I had to establish this stuff. Thanks to LostLadyKnight, knadineg, SawyerFan, GregsLabrat, BeeMel, Maria-Elric05 and GreggoAddict for reviews and to Racefh and PisceanPal for beta. Also, in response to a question from beeMel, the story will not end up being 30 chapters. At the moment it will probably end up at 39-40 chapters. Enjoy, and I promise there are more exciting chapters coming up next.

Harper


CHAPTER 30: Plan

The team, minus Greg this time, sat in the FBI building, suite 213, decompressing the information they had just gotten.

"If the case gets solved," Nick ventured. "The-then Gre-Greggo – err, Greg –" Grissom, sensing Nick's trouble, finished his thought. "Once the case is solved, we can go get Greg?"

"Assuming Greg's still alive."

Catherine sniffed, and Nick looked like he'd just lost all faith in life.

Howard, trying to help the team, made a move. "How far are you in the investigation, Mr. Stokes? We noticed there were a few things that you and Mr. Brown were able to find that we hadn't gotten previously."

'If we solve the case,' Nick reasoned with himself. 'Then we can help Greggo.' Forcing himself into productive and slightly enthused mode, he repeated, more to himself than to the team or Howard, "Solve the case. Find Greggo." Slowing down, he repeated, "We can solve the case. And then we'll find Greggo." He nodded his head as he spoke. He was ready to do his best. "I've got the notebooks of yours," he motioned to Warrick.

"We already found and Xeroxed them," Howard responded.

Nick nodded, resigned. "Well I've got the stuff indicatin' Greg and the stuff indicatin' the undersheriff, but I imagine none o' that stuff helps much."

Howard and Warrick shook their heads.

"I talked to Pritchard," Nick counted off.

Howard looked up, with a surprising show of enthusiasm. "Really? We've been trying to track him down for months. What'd he say?"

"Well, he as much as confessed to the P.I.'s murder."

"Did he? Did you get that on tape?"

"Uh… yeah."

"Where's the tape?"

Nick grabbed it out of his pocket, glad that he had gotten into the habit of keeping all evidence related to Warrick's case on him at all times.

He pressed play.

"I need you to tell me what you know… about Warrick Brown's murder."

"That's easy. I don't know nothin'"

"Hey now. I've got a gun to your back, so you better 'fess up."

"I'm serious man –"

"Come on, man. Cop to cop. Everything you know about Warrick Brown's murder. I know you're working for Gedda."

"What I know is that Gedda didn't order it – and not just 'cuz he was dead. It wasn't a hit by Gedda's gang. Some people are thinkin' Sanders had somethin' to do with it, because he was the one people are sayin' might o' helped hit Gedda, 'specially since he worked with Brown."

"So Gedda' people think Warrick killed Gedda?"

"Well yeah,"

"So what's goin' on with Sanders. How long's he been in the gang?"

"I dunno. A while."

"What's he been doin' for Gedda? What's his role?"

"Well, first of all, I'm not the one who told you this. Sanders 's a dangerous man to be downtalkin' these days. 'S a power struggle goin' on right now in the gang, with Gedda gone 'n all. A bunch o' people are sayin' that Sanders killed Gedda to get power, and a lot o' 'em are sidin' with Sanders 'cause they figure he will be the next ringmaster. Bunch o' ninnies."

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cause they're suckin' up to 'im. Plus, what I heard also is 'at Sanders killed Brown. I work for Gedda, an' sometimes I help 'im mess with the PD – But I'd never kill another cop. That's just wrong. We all bleed blue, even if there's somethin' else mixed in there too, like Gedda gunk. But it sounds like Sanders killed one o' his own, since that cop was the biggest threat to the gang."

"Warrick wasn't a cop. He was a CSI."

"You really make the distinction. You don't think the detectives you work with are your brothers?"

"You said you didn't know why Gedda would have had killed. If Gedda did, why would it have been? And I need you to be completely honest with me now. You are dyin', so it's not like anybody from the gang is gonna come after you. But I can make your dyin' experience mighty more unpleasant. Glare all you want, just as long as you tell me the truth."

"Gedda felt threatened. The Feds were investigatin', or at least that's what we thought. Warrick was the biggest threat that we could see. An' Gedda knew there was a mole for the Feds in the lab."

"He assumed Warrick was the mole in the lab and was in the process of bringing him down. It's just that he never gave the orders, not to my knowledge, an' I woulda known, since it was a LVPD thing, ya know?"

"What about the PI, the one Warrick hired to investigate Gedda recently, Lenny?"

"I killed him."

"Where's your hide-out?"

"Warehouse… the one Gedda's uncle used to own."

Howard looked up. "You have a confession. And you have a location. We still need the new head honcho of the gang though. We still don't even know who it is. The plan had been for Greg to, ideally, find some way to take over, but that clearly didn't end up happening."

Nick gulped. Sensing the man's growing guilt, which was becoming overwhelming, Howard gave him something to do. "Find me some more evidence. Help us get the name of the new chief, and evidence against him. Once we have that, I think we can make the case and go get Greg."


Thanks for reading (and hopefully reviewing)!

Harper