Chapter 45
Nick and Greg hung back as Akers knocked on the door. Adrenalin was coursing through his veins and his hand adjusted it grip on his Glock. The house was a large, three-story structure. The perfect American dream, complete with a white picket fence. A balcony ran across the front of the house, Nick could see French doors leading to the first floor. A large window was situated in the middle of the roof.
If anyone were to look at this house, they would never guess what sort of person grew up there. They would never think that that house could give birth to a murderer and budding sociopath.
A uniform busted the door open, and Nick followed the officers into the house. Raising his gun as he worked with the cops to clear the premises. Nick made his way to the next story as Greg focused on the ground floor. Shouts of 'clear' rang through the air, and Nick holstered his weapon.
Nobody was home.
Nick walked into what looked to be Jimmy's childhood bedroom. The wallpaper was faded, and old posters of cars, models, and various bands Jimmy used to worship were peeling off the walls. A single bed lined the wall and a desk sat opposite. There was a framed photograph in the centre of the desk. Jimmy, and… Nick's eyes widened as he took in face before him. Snapping on his gloves, Nick picked up the photo.
It looked to have been taken when Jimmy was no more than seventeen, or eighteen. The girl in the photo was smiling, laughing at whatever it was Jimmy had said to her before the photo had been taken. Jimmy had his hand around her waist, and another on her knee. It was intimate. Loving. The younger version of the doctor was looking at the girl in a way Nick had only ever seen him look at one other person.
Taking the photograph with him, Nick searched the rest of the first floor. There were two other bedrooms and a family bathroom. One was obviously Charlottes room. The pink was fading from the walls, and the frills on the bed had wilted. But Nick could still smell the faint aroma of perfume. Unlike Jimmy's old room, which had been covered in inches of dust. Charlottes was pristine.
Clean, tidy. Jimmy's room felt cold, empty. But Charlottes was warm, lived in. It was cared for and while the fade wallpaper suggested it hadn't been redecorated in years, Jimmy clearly spent a lot of time here. There were pictures on the desk in this room too. Pictures of Charlotte and Jimmy. Charlotte and her friends. Their parents. One frame caught his eyes. Face down, broken, right at the back.
Nick picked it up. Charlotte had to have been in her late twenties when this was taken. She was gazing up to a man who the CSI guessed to be her fiancé. He was tall, blond. Good looking. Charlotte's face shining as they embraced. Nick frowned, studying the missing woman's features.
Something within him twisted as he looked at the photo.
"Nick?" Greg's voice called over the radio. "I think we need to call the bomb squad."
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Nick and Greg waited outside, while the bomb squad swept the house. "It was everywhere," Greg said from beside him. "There was so much."
"How much?" Nick asked.
"Enough to level the house, and then some," Greg replied. "What did you find?" Nick handed him the photo. "Is that…"
"Jimmy's sister," Nick said, taking the photo and putting it in an evidence bag. "I've already sent it to Russell."
"And Sara?" Nick shook his head. His gut churning at the very thought. "You should tell her," Greg said. "She deserves to know." Greg was right, Nick knew it, but he had no idea how he would tell her.
"All clear," Andy, the bomb technician, said as he exited the house. "There are no trips, or wires. Most of the stuff here isn't live."
"But?" Nick asked. There was something on the bomb techs face that gave him pause.
"We've found some parts. From what I can see, you guy has built at least one more bomb, possibly two. But they're not here."
Nick's stomach dropped. If it wasn't here, then the bomb was probably with Jimmy. And if Jimmy wasn't here, he was probably… Shit!
"Call Sara," Nick said, rounding on Greg. "They could be walking into a trap." The younger man instantly pulled his phone out, face pale as he dialled Sara's number.
"There's something else you should see," Andy said, and Nick followed him into the house. Cops and techs, bomb and lab alike, were moving around the building. Nick walked after Andy, back into the basement. The bomb squad had cleared out all of the explosives, and what was left were different tools Nick was sure he'd be able to match to the bombs at the Eclipse and Lady Heathers.
Andy led him over to the corner of the room, where a floorboard had been pried away. "I saw that it was loose, so checked it. But I didn't find any bombs."
Nick knelt down and flashed his light into the crack. Oh God. He pulled out his phone, and, without taking his eyes off the crevice, held it to his face.
CSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSICSI
Russell walked down the corridor of the crime lab, not paying attention to anyone around him. The door to the AV lab was open, and he could see Morgan and Archie sat at the desk, staring at the screen. As he entered, his two subordinates looked up.
"Show me," he said. Archie pulled up a screen and Russell's mouth dropped open slightly.
"This has to be why," Morgan said. "Why he picked Sara."
"Is there any more?" Russell asked the AV tech.
"Tons," Archie replied and pressed the slide show.
"And they're all of Jimmy and his sister?"
"It's creepy," Archie said, looking at the photos in disgust. "I don't know about you guys, but I do not touch my sister like that."
"No, I don't imagine you do," Russell commented. The photo that had just filled the screen show Jimmy hugging Charlotte from behind. One hand to her stomach, while the other crossed her chest to her shoulder. Another… Russell actually had to turn away from the screen. "Jimmy clearly felt more for his sister than brotherly love."
"It doesn't look like she felt the same," Archie put in. "In each photo, she gets more and more agitated."
"Maybe that's why she left," Russell mused. Ran away from the brother who clearly wanted more from her.
"Maybe," Morgan replied. "But look at her, Russell. She and Sara could be twins."
"Jimmy doesn't want Sara. He wants Charlotte."
"But he can't have her," Morgan said. "She ran away, probably when she realised just how twisted her brother was."
Russell's phone rang. "Yeah, Russell."
"Russell? It's Nick. I think we've found Charlotte Colston."