Disclaimers: I don't own the characters, CBS and the show's producers do. Don't sue me.
Somewhere behind Nick, Catherine and Warrick also drove in silence, only the sound of the wind gusting against the windshield was heard, no music, no words - just silence.
Hours of silence. Finally, as they entered the city limits of Las Vegas, the silence of the desert had now turned into the noise of the city, of the city that doesn't sleep. They drove towards CSI, knowing that there was still a lot to do. In silence, both observed the lights and fanfare of the Strip. A ringing phone broke the silence they had nurtured since leaving,
"Willows," Catherine answered.
"We'll be there," she quickly concluded, turning off the phone. Warrick looked at her curiously, wondering about the call.
"They're gonna start questioning Mark Wallis," she said, the look of fear in her eyes.
Surprised by the comment, Warrick knew that an interrogation at this time could make emotions run high. He was worried about how the questioning would turn out. But all his escalating emotions ceased as he turned into the LVPD/CSI lab office driveway. They navigated towards their usual parking spot and parked. As both jumped out of the jeep, Catherine muttered that Nick had arrived before them.
'This is definitely going to be a tough night,' Warrick thought to himself, as he walked through the entrance doors.
~*~
It was time to go home, and all the Tahoes had departed the day before. Everyone was exhausted, no rest from the yesterday's events, and certainly eager to return home. The red chopper carrying Sara lifted off the heli-pad, alongside her was Grissom. He stared at her pale and innocent face knowing that they would soon be reunited with the others. Sara was going home.
~*~
Lighting in the room was sparse, the layout simple; two chairs, a cold metal table and a two-way mirror. Nick sat calmly at one end of the table, while Mark Wallis walked in to occupy the other. Both Catherine and Warrick arrived just moments before, both now standing beside the door. Brass leaned against the table, sliding forth two files. It was full house, and Mark Wallis was in for a ride, rather, they were in for a ride.
"Wow, don't I get the star treatment," Mark stated as he walked through the door. He clapped his hands and slid comfortably into the chair. He smirked, a cold smirk that only he could find amusing.
"How's Sara?" He questioned, staring directly at Nick, knowing that the comment would hit a cord.
Nick simply sat there, inspecting the degenerate scum that was before him. He kept a straight face, never revealing himself, his true weakness, and the cards up his sleeve.
"Hey buddy, how about we end this right here. You tell us what happened," Brass commenced with the questioning.
"I thought you were suppose to be the best, why don't you tell me what happened," Mark smirked confidently.
"How about this? You have been obsessing about Sara since high school, but second rate to your brother, David, you never got any play," Warrick added. He moved forward and was not only a foot away from Mark's seat. Nick continued to stare straight ahead.
"But when you realized that there was no way Sara would ever go for you; you killed your brother."
"It wasn't an accident, you killed your brother. You knew that you would never have Sara," Catherine interjected. Mark simply smiled, and looked at the blonde-haired woman beside him.
His eyes darted around the room; his sweat glands ready to spew a pool of sweat. He swallowed hard but said nothing.
"You followed Sara, to Boston; you went to Tufts University while she was at Harvard. We also found your corporate apartment here, just minutes away from her place," Warrick said. Brass continued to stare at the guilty face of Mark Wallis; Nick just stared, he was silent.
"Then, once you got your life back on track, you decided to reunite with Sara, at the baseball game. Hoping that she, would open up to you; maybe even hoping to get some play," Brass insinuated .
"That's where you saw Traci. You're not a very neat man are you? We found her," Warrick added, his eyes squinting at the gears that he knew were now moving inside Mark Wallis' brain.
"Surprised?" Catherine quipped.
"You don't know anything," Mark simply answered.
"You killed her," Nick finally said. The silence he had attained was now broken; at this moment he thought that if patience was a virtue, then he should be a saint.
"You took her to spite me, to distract us from finding Sara. You wanted to hurt me," he paused.
"Don't sound so conceded Nick, this wasn't all about you," Mark responded.
"The funny thing is that, you probably actually think that Sara loves you. That she would somehow understand all of this, forgive you. She doesn't love you, she never loved you. You know that. You knew that you were never man enough to tell her, so you plotted to kidnap her. And Traci was your escape goat, your distraction," he continued. Almost sounding like a hypocrite when he realized how long he had waited to realize his own feelings for Sara. However, he pushed on, never missing a beat.
"You're the reason she left San Francisco," he lashed out.
"I bet you didn't know that, she left to get away from you, Mark, from you!" The fury in his eyes burning, the nerves around his neck pulsating.
Something snapped.
"That's not true. Sara loves me, she always loved me. She just doesn't know it yet. I'll make her love me, she will. She will forget about you, about Las Vegas. She's going to pick me," Mark breathed hard as he focused solely on the face of Nick.
Two eyes met fury red in each other's eyes. The battle had begun, and it was going to be a fight for everything. Mark sat back down and simply scoffed,
"As for your sweet innocent Traci, well, has she ever told you who she really is?" He continued, smiling like an idiot.
"Jennifer Tracy, does that name ring any bells?" His seemingly clever eyes turned into something different. Something out of control, almost as if a different person was speaking.
Nick was clueless.
"Of course you wouldn't. She followed you in university, she worshipped you. She went to every game, she took every class, he attended all the parties, and you didn't even notice." The tone of his voice changed, he spoke with more conviction, without hesitation, without knowledge that he was about to make a confession.
"She was the one with the plan. She wanted to get rid of Sara, and all she needed was a helper," he said smugly, his eyes widening at every pause.
"We met at a radio convention at the Bellagio, she had a radio show, and I was a promoter. We got talking, and boom, the baseball game."
All looked at him with great curiosity and confusion. They listened as a method soon became from Mark's madness.
"What you thought that our encounter was all a coincidence?" He questioned, crossing his arms and leaning against the cold back of his seat.
"The contest was rigged. And your friend Warrick was the target. So Warrick, have you gotten over your 'itch' to take a chance?" Warrick's eyes narrowed, he was intrigued.
"The plan was to get everyone together, so everybody knew the players in the game. Have a great time, just to make sure that everybody would overlook the both of us."
"You're lying. How could you have known that I was going to be called away," Warrick questioned. He recalled the week before he was suppose to go to the baseball game with Nick. That day, Grissom had asked him to attend a seminar; he had to go, and he definitely had to give up his tickets.
"Ha! That was by pure chance. It didn't matter if you were there or not, Traci was already going to be there, she's the one who's promoting the radio. It just so happens that you got called to a seminar, and well, giving Nick the tickets for a date with Traci certainly just handed us a better plan." The man simply confirmed, before staring at the surprised look on Warrick's face - Mark just smiled.
'This is insane. How deep does this go?' Warrick questioned himself, observing carefully the facial expressions of Mark Wallis.
"Everything was going well, until that little bitch cut Sara, she wanted her to die. My Sara, she wanted to permanently get rid of my Sara," Mark disrupted. He shook fists up in the air.
"Well, I got rid of her first - permanently. That showed, her, nobody ever hurts my Sara, nobody." Mark's actions were erratic; he lowered his arms, looked innocently at the floor before looking up maniacally at the rest of the room.
Nick was silent. Shocked that every answer was just under his nose; shocked at the expression in Mark's face.
"Oh but Nick, don't beat yourself up over it. She really loved you." He smiled. The twisted evil darkness in his mind was exposed.
"You son of a bitch-" Nick jumped forward in an attempt to him. Arms fully extended and body tilted forward; it took all the strength of Warrick and Brass to restrain the raging bull that was Nick. Catherine was startled by the sudden movement and was now observing Nick from a distance. She witnessed the anger, fury, and disgust that flowed through his veins. He was out for blood.
"Easy, easy. Calm down," Warrick hushed.
"Take him away, this interrogation is over," Brass ordered.
The guards that stood outside the doors whisked the laughing and deranged Mark Wallis out of the room. The all looked at him, the handcuffs and chains grinding against each other as he walked out of the room. It took several moments before Nick was fully calm, the redness in his face had subsided, and the shaking of his arms had seized. The room's tension and heavy mood had also diffused out the door; the night was dragging, and everyone needed to head home.
After assuring Warrick and Catherine that he was all right, Nick finally convinced them to head home. They both were tired, he could tell that Warrick needed to take a shower and that Catherine needed to be home with her daughter. He on the other hand had some unfinished business.
He cautiously walked towards the holding cells, making sure that Brass was not in view. As an investigator, he was let through the security check with ease, and soon he found himself standing outside the metal door. The interrogation's efforts made Nick sick and now he was ready to confronted Mark Wallis. He pushed open the door and walked in, trying desperately to be calm, a concept that went out the window once he saw the face of the man who had taken away Sara, who had put her through turmoil.
The man stood up from the bed and walked over to where the CSI was standing; he crossed his arm and stared at the taller man in front of him. He was grinning.
Nick grabbed the collar of Mark Wallis' shirt, and slammed him angrily against the wall.
"If anything happens to Sara, I swear to God, I will get you. If it takes one bullet or my entire life, I will get you, - I will bring you down," Nick yelled angrily, never blinking an eye. He stared coldly into the eyes of Mark Wallis and slowly released the man of the death grip he had on his collar.
He walked away, knowing what he knows, knowing the answers that he sought; but still feeling empty.
*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
A/N - *inhale* *exhale* well, now you know the answers, what do you think? i'd love to hear about what y'all think of this chapter.
as you can tell, the story's almost at an end, and the next chapter is probably going to be the last... so stay tuned.
thanks again to all who have reviewed, i truly appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Somewhere behind Nick, Catherine and Warrick also drove in silence, only the sound of the wind gusting against the windshield was heard, no music, no words - just silence.
Hours of silence. Finally, as they entered the city limits of Las Vegas, the silence of the desert had now turned into the noise of the city, of the city that doesn't sleep. They drove towards CSI, knowing that there was still a lot to do. In silence, both observed the lights and fanfare of the Strip. A ringing phone broke the silence they had nurtured since leaving,
"Willows," Catherine answered.
"We'll be there," she quickly concluded, turning off the phone. Warrick looked at her curiously, wondering about the call.
"They're gonna start questioning Mark Wallis," she said, the look of fear in her eyes.
Surprised by the comment, Warrick knew that an interrogation at this time could make emotions run high. He was worried about how the questioning would turn out. But all his escalating emotions ceased as he turned into the LVPD/CSI lab office driveway. They navigated towards their usual parking spot and parked. As both jumped out of the jeep, Catherine muttered that Nick had arrived before them.
'This is definitely going to be a tough night,' Warrick thought to himself, as he walked through the entrance doors.
~*~
It was time to go home, and all the Tahoes had departed the day before. Everyone was exhausted, no rest from the yesterday's events, and certainly eager to return home. The red chopper carrying Sara lifted off the heli-pad, alongside her was Grissom. He stared at her pale and innocent face knowing that they would soon be reunited with the others. Sara was going home.
~*~
Lighting in the room was sparse, the layout simple; two chairs, a cold metal table and a two-way mirror. Nick sat calmly at one end of the table, while Mark Wallis walked in to occupy the other. Both Catherine and Warrick arrived just moments before, both now standing beside the door. Brass leaned against the table, sliding forth two files. It was full house, and Mark Wallis was in for a ride, rather, they were in for a ride.
"Wow, don't I get the star treatment," Mark stated as he walked through the door. He clapped his hands and slid comfortably into the chair. He smirked, a cold smirk that only he could find amusing.
"How's Sara?" He questioned, staring directly at Nick, knowing that the comment would hit a cord.
Nick simply sat there, inspecting the degenerate scum that was before him. He kept a straight face, never revealing himself, his true weakness, and the cards up his sleeve.
"Hey buddy, how about we end this right here. You tell us what happened," Brass commenced with the questioning.
"I thought you were suppose to be the best, why don't you tell me what happened," Mark smirked confidently.
"How about this? You have been obsessing about Sara since high school, but second rate to your brother, David, you never got any play," Warrick added. He moved forward and was not only a foot away from Mark's seat. Nick continued to stare straight ahead.
"But when you realized that there was no way Sara would ever go for you; you killed your brother."
"It wasn't an accident, you killed your brother. You knew that you would never have Sara," Catherine interjected. Mark simply smiled, and looked at the blonde-haired woman beside him.
His eyes darted around the room; his sweat glands ready to spew a pool of sweat. He swallowed hard but said nothing.
"You followed Sara, to Boston; you went to Tufts University while she was at Harvard. We also found your corporate apartment here, just minutes away from her place," Warrick said. Brass continued to stare at the guilty face of Mark Wallis; Nick just stared, he was silent.
"Then, once you got your life back on track, you decided to reunite with Sara, at the baseball game. Hoping that she, would open up to you; maybe even hoping to get some play," Brass insinuated .
"That's where you saw Traci. You're not a very neat man are you? We found her," Warrick added, his eyes squinting at the gears that he knew were now moving inside Mark Wallis' brain.
"Surprised?" Catherine quipped.
"You don't know anything," Mark simply answered.
"You killed her," Nick finally said. The silence he had attained was now broken; at this moment he thought that if patience was a virtue, then he should be a saint.
"You took her to spite me, to distract us from finding Sara. You wanted to hurt me," he paused.
"Don't sound so conceded Nick, this wasn't all about you," Mark responded.
"The funny thing is that, you probably actually think that Sara loves you. That she would somehow understand all of this, forgive you. She doesn't love you, she never loved you. You know that. You knew that you were never man enough to tell her, so you plotted to kidnap her. And Traci was your escape goat, your distraction," he continued. Almost sounding like a hypocrite when he realized how long he had waited to realize his own feelings for Sara. However, he pushed on, never missing a beat.
"You're the reason she left San Francisco," he lashed out.
"I bet you didn't know that, she left to get away from you, Mark, from you!" The fury in his eyes burning, the nerves around his neck pulsating.
Something snapped.
"That's not true. Sara loves me, she always loved me. She just doesn't know it yet. I'll make her love me, she will. She will forget about you, about Las Vegas. She's going to pick me," Mark breathed hard as he focused solely on the face of Nick.
Two eyes met fury red in each other's eyes. The battle had begun, and it was going to be a fight for everything. Mark sat back down and simply scoffed,
"As for your sweet innocent Traci, well, has she ever told you who she really is?" He continued, smiling like an idiot.
"Jennifer Tracy, does that name ring any bells?" His seemingly clever eyes turned into something different. Something out of control, almost as if a different person was speaking.
Nick was clueless.
"Of course you wouldn't. She followed you in university, she worshipped you. She went to every game, she took every class, he attended all the parties, and you didn't even notice." The tone of his voice changed, he spoke with more conviction, without hesitation, without knowledge that he was about to make a confession.
"She was the one with the plan. She wanted to get rid of Sara, and all she needed was a helper," he said smugly, his eyes widening at every pause.
"We met at a radio convention at the Bellagio, she had a radio show, and I was a promoter. We got talking, and boom, the baseball game."
All looked at him with great curiosity and confusion. They listened as a method soon became from Mark's madness.
"What you thought that our encounter was all a coincidence?" He questioned, crossing his arms and leaning against the cold back of his seat.
"The contest was rigged. And your friend Warrick was the target. So Warrick, have you gotten over your 'itch' to take a chance?" Warrick's eyes narrowed, he was intrigued.
"The plan was to get everyone together, so everybody knew the players in the game. Have a great time, just to make sure that everybody would overlook the both of us."
"You're lying. How could you have known that I was going to be called away," Warrick questioned. He recalled the week before he was suppose to go to the baseball game with Nick. That day, Grissom had asked him to attend a seminar; he had to go, and he definitely had to give up his tickets.
"Ha! That was by pure chance. It didn't matter if you were there or not, Traci was already going to be there, she's the one who's promoting the radio. It just so happens that you got called to a seminar, and well, giving Nick the tickets for a date with Traci certainly just handed us a better plan." The man simply confirmed, before staring at the surprised look on Warrick's face - Mark just smiled.
'This is insane. How deep does this go?' Warrick questioned himself, observing carefully the facial expressions of Mark Wallis.
"Everything was going well, until that little bitch cut Sara, she wanted her to die. My Sara, she wanted to permanently get rid of my Sara," Mark disrupted. He shook fists up in the air.
"Well, I got rid of her first - permanently. That showed, her, nobody ever hurts my Sara, nobody." Mark's actions were erratic; he lowered his arms, looked innocently at the floor before looking up maniacally at the rest of the room.
Nick was silent. Shocked that every answer was just under his nose; shocked at the expression in Mark's face.
"Oh but Nick, don't beat yourself up over it. She really loved you." He smiled. The twisted evil darkness in his mind was exposed.
"You son of a bitch-" Nick jumped forward in an attempt to him. Arms fully extended and body tilted forward; it took all the strength of Warrick and Brass to restrain the raging bull that was Nick. Catherine was startled by the sudden movement and was now observing Nick from a distance. She witnessed the anger, fury, and disgust that flowed through his veins. He was out for blood.
"Easy, easy. Calm down," Warrick hushed.
"Take him away, this interrogation is over," Brass ordered.
The guards that stood outside the doors whisked the laughing and deranged Mark Wallis out of the room. The all looked at him, the handcuffs and chains grinding against each other as he walked out of the room. It took several moments before Nick was fully calm, the redness in his face had subsided, and the shaking of his arms had seized. The room's tension and heavy mood had also diffused out the door; the night was dragging, and everyone needed to head home.
After assuring Warrick and Catherine that he was all right, Nick finally convinced them to head home. They both were tired, he could tell that Warrick needed to take a shower and that Catherine needed to be home with her daughter. He on the other hand had some unfinished business.
He cautiously walked towards the holding cells, making sure that Brass was not in view. As an investigator, he was let through the security check with ease, and soon he found himself standing outside the metal door. The interrogation's efforts made Nick sick and now he was ready to confronted Mark Wallis. He pushed open the door and walked in, trying desperately to be calm, a concept that went out the window once he saw the face of the man who had taken away Sara, who had put her through turmoil.
The man stood up from the bed and walked over to where the CSI was standing; he crossed his arm and stared at the taller man in front of him. He was grinning.
Nick grabbed the collar of Mark Wallis' shirt, and slammed him angrily against the wall.
"If anything happens to Sara, I swear to God, I will get you. If it takes one bullet or my entire life, I will get you, - I will bring you down," Nick yelled angrily, never blinking an eye. He stared coldly into the eyes of Mark Wallis and slowly released the man of the death grip he had on his collar.
He walked away, knowing what he knows, knowing the answers that he sought; but still feeling empty.
*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
A/N - *inhale* *exhale* well, now you know the answers, what do you think? i'd love to hear about what y'all think of this chapter.
as you can tell, the story's almost at an end, and the next chapter is probably going to be the last... so stay tuned.
thanks again to all who have reviewed, i truly appreciate your comments and suggestions.