Arriving for work on Monday night, Warrick was in the locker room changing as Archie entered. "Hey Warrick, a package just came for Grissom. Is he coming in tonight?"
Warrick rolled his eyes then turned to face Archie. "No, he won't be in for a few more weeks. Just leave it on his desk for now. I'll call him later, see if he wants me to open it."
Warrick was lost in his thoughts about his marriage to Tina. He had just received paperwork from her lawyer about a trial separation. He was still angry that he had seen his wife leaving the hospital with her old boyfriend. True, he had not been home a lot lately but he had a damned good reason to be away so much. Just because he wasn't home every night, that was no excuse for her to cheat on him.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash from the hallway and a muffled explosion. Alarms started to sound and the emergency exhaust fans immediately kicked on. Warrick raced out into the hall grabbing a mask to cover his nose and mouth. Nick and Catherine were not far behind him.
They found Robyn and Archie gasping for air. Archie tried to crawl from Grissom's office as he attempted to drag Robyn. A fine mist of white powder rose from what was left of a package on the desk, it filled the air in center of the office. Warrick quickly shut off the exhaust fan in Grissom's office and closed his office door. He helped Archie to the showers and Nick followed him carrying Robyn. They both tried to rinse the chemicals off them, hoping it would help them breathe easier. Catherine ran to make sure everyone else in the lab had cleared out. She met a livid Ecklie at the front entrance.
"What the hell is going on, Catherine?"
"Don't look at me this time! There was an explosion in Grissom's office, not in the lab."
"Was this one of Grissom's experiments?"
"He hasn't been here in over a month, I don't think so. I was some kind of a package and Robyn and Archie were caught in the blast. Warrick and Nick got them to the showers and hazmat is on the way."
"If the problem is in Grissom's office why is everyone else outside?"
"It's a hazmat procedure! No one goes back in until we know what caused the explosion and if there are any more. The lab is empty except for the four in the showers. Paramedics have been called."
"Can we turn off the damn alarms then?"
"HAZMAT guys are arriving now, they can do it."
Less than an hour later, the hazmat chief confirmed the chemicals released were not lethal and the fumes had been contained at the blast site thanks to Warrick's fast action.
Cautiously everyone returned to work, police tape covered the closed door to Grissom's office.
"Mr. Ecklie, an exothenic device holding chemicals was placed on the desk in this office. That motion may have set the timer for detonation. The package must have been delivered to the building within an hour or so of the explosion because it had a quick timer. You have video cameras, I'll need to see your security tapes. It appears whoever works in that office was the target. The chemicals were not strong enough to kill but those two kids are going to be sick as hell for a few days. The two men that got them out and into the showers had masks so they will be OK. We have just introduced a re-agent into this office vent to neutralize the chemicals. No one goes in there until I check the air tomorrow and view what's left of the package, the elements and construction of that device." Archie and Robyn were wheeled past the two men on stretchers. "I strongly recommend that any mail or packages received, be scanned or sent to HAZMAT until we know more."
Ecklie scanned the hallway as the HAZMAT crew left. "With all the media hanging around trying to get at Grissom, they will have a field day with this. Catherine, let everyone know that no one talks to the press. I will need to let the Sheriff know what happened here. Refer all the press to his office. OK everyone, let's get back to work."
Ecklie left but Catherine was more concerned about Warrick and Nick. She found them in the locker room. "Hey, you guys OK?"
Nick pulled on a dry shirt. "A little wet but we're OK. Did hazmat say what happened?"
"They are not talking and Ecklie wants us to stonewall the press. He said to refer any requests for information to the Sheriff's Office."
"Yeah, that sounds about right for him."
"I'm heading home, Rick. I'll see you later. If you need any help, call me."
"Thanks Nick. Have a good night."
Warrick pulled on a dry shirt and smiled at Catherine's unspoken question. "Tina and I are taking a time out just now. I've been crashing on Nick's couch until I can find a new place."
"That sucks! I am sorry, Warrick. Can I do anything to help?"
"Not unless you can give me a few days without a major crisis."
"You want me to cover your shift for tonight?"
"No but thanks, Catherine." He hugged her. "Go home to Lindsey."
Warrick and Greg luckily had a slow night and had just a few leftovers for the morning crew. The HAZMAT chief returned early and Warrick waited for him. He needed to retrieve some case files from Grissom's office. As the chief opened the office door a strong chlorine smell assaulted them both, even through their masks.
"Luckily most everything in the office is in glass jars, so there will be no contamination but anything in those cages will be dead."
Warrick walked over to see Grissom's pet tarantula with eight hairy legs in the air. "Oh man! Grissom is going to be pissed. His hissing beetles and maggots are all dead."
"Grissom! Is that the man I've seen all over the news? He survived a plane crash, right? It seems like someone really has it in for him."
"No, he said the plane crash was an accident."
"Well this wasn't. Look!"
Written in blood red crayon on the remains of the burnt cardboard box were words that forced Warrick's mind into high alert.
YOU'VE IGNORED ME FOR THE LAST TIME – NEXT TIME YOU DIE!
"Someone is after him! I need that box to test for hair, fiber and fingerprints." Warrick's mind went back to the crash that hurt John. The man that hit the Denali would not have been able to see who was driving through the darkly tinted windows. Maybe it wasn't an accident after all, someone was trying to hurt or kill Grissom! John only got hurt because he was driving Grissom's van. Warrick automatically started to reach for the package debris for analysis.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT! Nothing is moved until everything is checked. Most of this paperwork will have to be destroyed. You can take pictures of what you need from the desk, then this all goes into our labs. When we are through it will be destroyed safely."
An hour later Warrick had finished taking photos of the pending case files. "Before you pack this all up, I need to run these pictures by Captain Brass. He may need to see the original." Warrick stepped out of the office, quickly removed the protective suit and mask then pulled out his phone. "Jim? It's Rick! We have a situation in Grissom's office, can you come by.....now?"
Brass frowned into his phone, more because of Rick tone and that he would say nothing more about the situation. "Sure, on my way!"
Arriving on the scene, Brass was startled to see the police tape on Grissom's door. Warrick motioned for him to follow as he downloaded his camera into the lab computer.
"Jim, before HAZMAT takes everything away, I wanted to show you this. Someone sent a bomb to Grissom. We found this message on the device. Do you need to see the original? We can't keep any of the original evidence to check for hair, fibers or fingerprints."
"Don't bother, there won't be any." Brass instantly recognized the red crayon and printing.
"Grissom has been getting messages from this nut job off and on for a year. I have all the others in my office. Tell the HAZMAT guy he is good to go and meet me in my office when you're done here."
"Yeah, sure!" Puzzled and more concerned Warrick saved the picture file. He had a lot of work to do, to recreate the damaged files from Grissom's desk but they could wait for now.
Arriving at Jim's office a short time later, Brass removed a large box from under his desk.
"This is what Grissom refers to as his fan mail." Jim removed three other letters printed in the same blood red crayon. "This is the last one I know of that came from this loony. Gil gave it to me when he got back from his honeymoon." Warrick eye immediately focused on the last line in the message.
YOU KNOW WHO I AM –CONTINUE TO IGNORE ME AT YOUR PERIL!
Warrick read the rest of the letters and was shocked at the description of what the sick man promised to do to Grissom. Each letter got angrier, more violent and more explicit.
"Are you saying that Grissom knows this guy?"
"No! We've had everything analyzed. Gil couldn't think of anyone he has pissed off this bad. He gave me a list of a few disgruntled ex-students, old co-workers who he fired and a list of people he put away that made threats against him. He couldn't figure out who would want to hurt him this bad."
"I've gotten some nasty letters from people I've put away but nothing like this."
"Grissom is definitely the lab champ in this category. He has 26 letters, almost all of them are death threats. Now there has been an actual attempt on his life."
"Possibly two! The hit and run last week, John was driving Grissom's van. We all assumed it was just an accident. After this, I'm not sure what to think. Who else knows about all these?"
"Beside Gil? Just Ecklie, the Sheriff and me."
"Who did the hair, fiber and print analysis?"
"Grissom did it himself. He didn't want Sara to know."
"Damn! I just remembered, Ecklie told everyone that Grissom would be in tonight. You think it might be someone who works here? Are you going to tell Grissom about this?"
"Hell, no! The last thing that poor guy needs is to worry about this shit right now but I think I'll arrange to have an undercover officer on his tail from now on. You may want to alert the rest of his gang to watch out. We don't need anyone else getting hurt by mistake. I will see about getting more security at the lab."
"Yeah, I'll talk to everyone on both teams. I'm going over tomorrow to see Archie and Robyn. Try to find out how that package got to the lab. Let me know if you get anything more?"
Warrick walked out of Brass's office in a swirl of thoughts and concerns. After shift, he stopped by the hospital but neither Robyn nor Archie saw the package arrive. Archie found it on Judy's desk. The next day, Warrick went in to the lab early to talk to Catherine, Nick, Mike and John about the letters and the explosion. Each of them got to see pictures of the "fan letters" sent to Grissom.
"Gil used to joke about his fan mail but I never thought it was as bad as this."
"I did a quick count and Grissom has worked on just over 2000 cases since he started. Even if we only look at the cases that went to court or the suspects who went to jail, that's still a lot of names and faces to check up on."
Mike put down the picture of the last letter. "Maybe I can help. There is this guy......I used to see him all the time in the coffee shop across the street. The front window has a perfect view of the lab's main entrance and the entrance to our parking facility. He's tall, blond and skinny. At first I thought it might be Ian Fitzgerald and that he might be after Sara. I haven't seen him for the last two weeks, maybe he was busy building that device."
"Mike, let Brass know. I'll check with Greg and the rest of the staff to see if anyone else remembers him hanging around out front. John, your hit and run may have been this nut going after Grissom. Do not drive his van again until we put a net over this guy. Please everyone be careful."
Later, Warrick was stunned to learn from Judy, that she saw and talked to the man that fit Mike's description. She said he was wandering the hallways the day before Grissom left for Canada. He was able to pull the surveillance tape from the lobby camera and got a good picture of the man both Mike and Judy described. Warrick was not surprised that his face wasn't in any of the criminal databases.
Brass and Warrick had a rather heated discussion on whether or not they should show that picture to Grissom.
Grissom, the subject of their discussion, was also not having a good day. He had spent most of his day at the courthouse. The attorneys for the conference, the airline and some of the families of the deceased had been harassing Grissom all day on minor details and the exact timeline of events surrounding the crash. He was very grateful when the judge called the court session closed early for the day. Walking out of the courthouse on swollen feet, he also had a monstrous headache and felt somewhat dizzy. Sitting down on a bench outside the fresh air helped, he was unaware of the undercover officer watched him closely as he pretended to be on a smoke break. Grissom pulled out his cell phone, his hands were still sore but luckily he only had to press one number. "Sara, court is over for the day but I need to work off some steam. I'll take a cab over to the boathouse, after I will stop by the grocery store on the way home. Do you need to add anything to the shopping list?" He listened for a moment, then blushed and chuckled. "I'll see what I can do, honey."
Warrick had won the battle with Brass, he went to show Grissom the picture of his possible stalker. He was going to say the man had been seen wandering the halls and may have stolen items from the lab. Rick and Brass agreed that he would say nothing about the explosion or any link to the "fan mail". Warrick called Sara to see if Grissom was finished in court for the day, he offered to drive him home. Sara told him that her husband had gone to the boathouse for a little anger management.
Warrick watched his boss row for a short while. It was obvious that the pain in Grissom's hands was still limiting how much anger he could row away. "Sara said you might be here. How was court?"
"First, let's kill all the lawyers!"
"Shakespeare, right?"
"And Grissom, too! What's up, Rick? Did Sara send you to make sure I'm OK or have you finally decided to become a member?"
"Nah! This is way too much exercise for me. You got a minute?"
"Sure, I can use a breather."
"Hey, does this guy look familiar to you?"
"No, why? What's up?"
"Judy and Mike said they both have seen him wandering the hallways at the lab. We are checking now to see if he took anything and exactly how the hell he keeps getting in. Have you ever seen him in the lab or hanging around outside it?"
"No, but it's kind of spooky. That could almost be a picture of me in my twenties."
"Get out!"
"Hey, I wasn't always fifty years old you know." Warrick chuckled. "Just for that, you can give me a ride to the supermarket. I was going to call a cab."
"Sure, no problem! I'll even give you a hand with the groceries since we all pigged out at your place on Sunday."
"Once my hands feel better, I'm going to need to lease something or buy a new car. The Mercedes is too low for Sara right now and I sold the Denali to John."
"Yeah, he told me." Grissom and Warrick drove to the supermarket and arrived a short time later at the apartment with several bags of groceries. Sara met them at the door but neither man would let her carry anything.
"Hey,Warrick! Don't you ever sleep?" Sara followed them into the kitchen.
"Sure I do, all the time on the job. I'm a supervisor now, make my staff do all the work."
"Very funny, Warrick. I'll remember that comment when it's time for your next review." Grissom tossed him an apple. Sara tried to help unpack the bags and noticed several cans of protein shakes. Before she could ask any questions about them, both her husband and Warrick pointed for her to go back to the couch. Rolling her eyes, Sara returned to the couch and her book. Grissom watched Rick as the apple quickly disappear. "You want to stay for dinner Rick?"
"No thanks, I've got to get some sleep. If you need anything until you get a car, call me."