Author's Note: I would like to thank phnxgrl for her review. We are starting this chapter with the next scene from the episode. I had to switch character placement in one scene to accommodate Sara's wheelchair. Enjoy!

Chapter 36

Morgan was analyzing the phone video some more when Nick walked in. "We still haven't found Hayes. Please, tell me you got something."

She looked up at him, excited. "As a matter of fact, I do. I've been analyzing the video that Lexi took, and from the dashboard, I can tell that the vehicle they were abducted in was a 1986 Chevrolet Suburban. Does Dennis Hayes drive one of those?"

"No, but I mean, he's a used car salesman. He has access to all kinds of vehicles." His phone chimed. "All right, I'll call the dealership, and, uh, I'll see if they have an '86 Suburban in inventory." Nick turned on his phone's screen and checked the text. What he read made his face fall in disappointment. They may have found Lexi, but not the way they had hoped.

Morgan noticed Nick's change in attitude. "What is it?"

Nick clenched his phone tightly in his hand and Morgan knew without him saying a word that the message hadn't been good. He turned and left the room, hurrying down the hall. Nick drove to the scene with dread in his chest. He had promised Nolan that they would find his girls, but this wasn't what he had meant. Part of him hoped that this girl was just a close match and not actually Lexi.

He parked the SUV behind the tape and walked under it as a uni held it up. "Where is she?"

Mitch had been waiting for him. "In the dumpster. One of the construction guys accidentally threw out some lighting fixtures, so the foreman came back to retrieve 'em, found the body."

Nick clicked on his flashlight and approached the dumpster warily. The body was under a drop cloth in the construction dumpster. He entered the dumpster and knelt down next to it, almost afraid to move the cover. But he couldn't just sit there. He reached out and drew the cloth off of her in one smooth motion. Nick shined the light on her face and his fear was confirmed. It was Lexi.

Mitch broke the silence. "She one of the girls?"

Nick had his eyes closed, not wanting to believe it yet, but eventually he nodded and opened his eyes again. "Yeah, that's Lexi, the older sister."

"Not the way we were hoping to find her."

"No, it's not." Nick looked at her face again. "Ecchymosis. Means she suffered blunt force trauma to the head." He panned his light to her feet. "Fresh cuts on the bottoms of her feet. Looks like she tried to run away. Any sign of Cara?"

"She's not in here."

Nick nodded; that might be good news. "Then there's a chance she might still be alive."

Nick had left the crime scene to ride with the body to the morgue, so Greg was taking pictures in the dumpster. He squatted and moved a drop cloth to find a necklace on the cushions Lexi's body had been on. He photographed the "L" pendant and then bagged it for Henry to take a look. He was just stepping out of the dumpster when Sara rolled over.

"Hey, I thought Nick was working this one."

"He went to the morgue with the body." Greg stopped in front of her. "He wanted to be the one to process Lexi. Uh, I found a necklace. There's not much blood in the dumpster. She must have been killed somewhere else and dumped here."

"They said they searched the house under renovation. There was no sign of Cara. No evidence that the girls were ever held there."

Greg looked around. "What about the other houses in the neighborhood?"

"Unis are still canvassing. One neighbor did report hearing a metallic squeaking sound 10:30."

Greg turned his head to look at the dumpster. "Hinges on the doors of the dumpster, maybe?"

Sara nodded. "By the time she looked out the window, all she could see were taillights speeding away. Some type of SUV. But, if the killer opened these doors," Sara shined her flashlight on the door to the dumpster, "he would've needed to touch the latch. I'll dust for prints."

Nick walked into the morgue to process Lexi's body to find Nolan standing there looking at his daughter. They talked about the kind of girl Lexi had been growing up. Nolan was blaming himself for her death and Nick did everything he could to convince him otherwise. After Nolan left, he did the preliminary exam so Doc could get to work on the autopsy. Doc's cause of death was blunt force trauma cause by her head getting smashed against a hard, flat surface. He also sent tissue samples up to Henry for analysis.

Sara found Nick in the break room getting coffee. She poured herself a mug and was about to leave, but she couldn't. Not without checking on him first. "How's Nolan?"

Nick turned around. "He's holding it together as best he can. This is a guy who sees dead bodies in autopsy every day, but when it's your own kid laying there…"

Sara shook her head. "Oof. I can't even imagine."

Nick shook his head. He couldn't either. "John's a good guy. He doesn't deserve this."

Sara took a sip of her coffee. "Didn't he send you an autographed Chargers jersey a few years ago?"

Nick smiled. "Yeah, Dan Fouts. One of the best passing quarterbacks in the NFL. It was his attempt to lure me to that San Diego office."

"You ever regret that? Not taking the job out there?"

Nick considered her question. "No. I mean, it wasn't a promotion or anything like that."

"Yeah, but the money had to be better than here."

"Uh, not really." He sighed. "I mean, San Diego's an expensive town to live in. Besides, this is my home. I got all my friends here. This is where my family is." He gestured to her with his mug. Sara returned the gesture. "And look, the Chargers got a good football team, but they're no Dallas Cowboys. Those are my boys."

Sara pursed her lips to hide her smile. "Go Cowboys."

Henry went into Russell's office. "Hey, Russell."

"Mm."

"Doc confirmed that the sting on Lexi Nolan's shoulder was from a scorpion."

Russell looked up. "Same type as the exoskeleton that Nick found?"

"No. This wasn't a giant hairy scorpion." Henry opened the folder in his hands. "The histopath report identified chlorotoxin and maurotoxin, consistent with a Deathstalker Scorpion." He placed the results page in front of Russell.

Russell picked it up. "They common to Nevada?"

Henry shook his head. "Indigenous to Israel."

"Well, then, how is she stung by one of these?"

Henry shook his head. "It had to be intentional. Some people keep them as pets, which is crazy. Deathstalkers are highly aggressive. When they sting their victims, the venom rushes into the bloodstream, causing increased heartbeat, blood pressure, and, if enough venom is released, convulsions and death."

"Well, now, Doc said that Lexi Nolan died from blunt force trauma, right?"

"Yes, but I think the scorpion sting may have contributed to her death. See," Henry put another page in front of the supervisor, "Lexi had cuts on the bottom of her feet. If she tried to run, with that venom in her system, she wouldn't have gotten very far."

Russell could see what Henry was saying. "Allowing her killer to catch up to her. So do we know if Dennis Hayes has a thing for scorpions?"

"He's not our guy. Police tracked him down to a motel in Nebraska. He's been there three days."

"So we know that whoever killed Lexi Nolan had access to a Deathstalker Scorpion. And if they're not native to Nevada, then where'd the guy get one?"

Greg found Sara in the print lab "standing" with a computer in front of her. "Hey, turns out there are seven places in Nevada that sell Deathstalker Scorpions." He handed her the report.

"If you ask me, that's seven places too many."

"I guess some people get a kick out of owning something that can kill you. Deathstalkers only live two to six years, so I got a list of everyone who purchased one from 2008 to now." Greg handed Sara a flashdrive.

She plugged it in and pulled up the list. "Okay, so if we cross-reference this with everyone who drives a 1986 Chevrolet Suburban, we might get our guy."

"Great minds think alike."

Sara pulled up the vehicles driven by every name on the Deathstalker Scorpion owners list and started to scroll down it. "Here's one. Kieran Clark. 528 Cactus Ridge Lane."

Greg grabbed Morgan and they headed out to Clark's address with several squad cars. The road up to the barn was dirt and they kicked up a lot of dust racing down the road. Morgan jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped, but hung back with Greg while the uni's stacked up on the door to clear the inside. One cop cut the padlock and pulled open the door while the rest poured inside.

"LVPD!"

"Kieran Clark, LVPD!"

"Clear inside."

Morgan's face fell as they heard that. If it was clear inside, then Cara wasn't there. Mitch walked out, cradling his shotgun. "All clear. Nobody's here."

Morgan sighed. "That means no Cara." She pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on, following Greg into the barn. "This is Clark's address, but it doesn't look like he lives here."

"Terrariums." Greg stopped to take a look. "A lot of them."

Morgan walked forward to take a better look. The terrarium in front of her housed a tarantula. She leaned down to take a closer look and it attacked the glass, trying to get to her. She jumped back. "Oh! Oh, God." She looked back at Greg, breathing hard, and found him smiling at her.

Greg turned his attention back to the terrariums. "Guess he's not just into scorpions." The terrariums housed reptiles and arachnids of many kinds. Greg got to the end of the row and turned to find a desk space with a cork board plastered with pictures of Cara. "Hey, Morgan." Morgan turned from the spider and came over to Greg. "Check this out. Stalker photos."

"Cara Nolan was only in town for the past few days. What, has he been stalking her the whole time?"

Greg bent down to find the light switch and flipped the lights over the desk on to get a better look. "Wait a minute. That's somebody else. That's not Cara Nolan."

"Who is it, then? Another victim?"

"I don't know. But whoever she is… she's a dead ringer for Cara."

A/N: Sara also got one of Morgan's scenes to give her more screen time. Stay tuned!