Disclaimer: Don't Own. Don't Sue. Do Review.
A/N: Hi again. Thanks to all who reviewed my last chapter; Emily, MissyJane, Pagan, The Madhatter, loco, pdhtgal, AetherIris, Moose, csiAngel and Juliet. Please keep them coming in, they help so much. This chapter is a little shorter then the last. I wrote it last night, but decided to post it up this morning because A) I'm up early for once before travelling to the hell hole known as school and B) It's the last day of term before the Easter Holidays, so I wanted to spread my good mood around. There is some mild bad language in this chapter, but it is PG-13 for a reason. Anyway, enough of my waffling. R&R and ENJOY!!- Bex
The Oasis casino was big, glitzy and typically Las Vegas. It was one of the most popular and successful casinos in the city. When Nick and Warrick entered they were greeted by the expensive looking interior, rows and rows of different ways for people to loose their money, and hundreds of people buzzing about, empting their wallets.
Nick watched Warrick stare at the slot machines. He could tell his addiction was still there, even if he had buried it, it was still itching to surface again. Nick tapped him on the arm causing him to look at him.
"You ok man?"
"I'm fine," Warrick reassured.
"Yeah? We better ask one of those security guards where we can find Mr Sinclair."
Warrick laughed, "How did we get landed with this job?"
"You must have done something to piss off Grissom," Nick suggest with mock seriousness.
"ME! If anyone managed to piss him off it's you. You're the one who's always staring after Sara with big puppy dog eyes. He was bound to notice sooner or later," He retorted.
"I do not STARE at Sara!"
"Yeah what ever man. You've got it bad for her, even if you don't realise it."
"Well even if I did, I can't act on it. Sara would probably break my nose and Gris would kill me," Nick stated.
"You're right about Grissom killing you, but I'm not so sure that Sara would break your nose," Warrick replied causing Nick to freeze and stare at him.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked confused.
"We should ask that guard over there," Warrick said ignoring his question and started to walk over.
"Warrick! What do you mean that you don't think she'll break my nose?" He called after him.
"Come on Nicky. Time's-a-wasting."
Nick sprinted slightly to catch up with him. He was about to repeat his question, but they had already reached the security guard. He was a large, bulky man with a shaven head, wearing a black suit.
"We're here to see Mr Sinclair. We're CSIs from the police department," Warrick informed as they showed him their IDs.
"Wait a moment," He ordered and then he spoke into his radio. "Clair, we have two CSIs down here wanting to see Mr Sinclair...uhuh....ok," He put his radio away and turned back to them, "Mr Sinclair has been expecting you. Follow me."
They followed him to a locked door, which lead to a lift. They got in the lift and travelled up 2 stories. After a couple of minutes they were in a large, lounge like room, on the other side of which was a door. Lying on one of the leather couches in the room was a lady in her late 30's. She had bleached blond hair, which was short and curly, and wore an expensive white dress.
"Mrs Sinclair, these two gentlemen are here to see..." the guard began, but she cut him off.
"I told you that no one is meant to see him. He's very upset," She snapped. "The only people you were meant to send up here were the people from the police department."
"These are the people from the police department."
"Oh!"
She sat up quickly, fixed her hair with her hand, smiled brightly and walked over.
"Oh hi there. I'm Tiffany Sinclair," Her voice drawled, "You can go now!" She snapped quietly at the guard.
"Mrs Sinclair, I'm Nick Stokes and this is Warrick Brown. We're..."
"I better go and get Bob," She cut across. "You gentle men can take a seat over there."
She bustled off over to the door at the other end of the room. Nick and Warrick exchanged a glance and walked over to sit down. Mrs Sinclair tapped smartly on the door and then opened it.
"Bob, honey, the men are here from the police department."
She walked back over followed by a much older man and a younger woman. The man had a head of fully grey hair and his face was covered with wrinkles. He had dark blue eyes, which seemed to be fixed in a permanent frown. The younger woman had short dark hair and was dressed in a blue business suit. She was probably Mr Sinclair sectary.
"Clair would fetch us some drinks," Tiffany ordered. "Sure," the young woman answered with false pleasantness, "Mr Sinclair?"
"Whiskey," He replied in a raspy voice.
She turned to Nick and Warrick.
"I'm fine thanks," They replied one after the other.
Then she turned to Mrs Sinclair.
"I want an ice tea. Make sure it has the right amount of ice in it this time."
"Sure," She replied in a sickly-sweet tone.
She plastered on a false smile, but Nick could tell what she was thinking; Bitch. She made the drink at the bar in the room and handed them out, then looked expectantly at Mr Sinclair.
"You can go now Clair. I'll call you if I need you," He dismissed her.
"Yes sir."
Mr Sinclair took a long sip of his drink as he waited for her to leave. He then turned his hard eyes at the two CSIs.
"You any closer to finding out what happened to my son?" He demanded.
"We're still trying to establish what happened. It would help a lot if you can answer a few questions," Warrick replied.
"Well I can tell you one thing for sure, it wasn't suicide."
"We're trying to confirm that," Nick answered carefully. Mr Sinclair snorted slightly and took another good, long sip of his whiskey.
"What can you tell me about Melissa Lukas and her relationship with your son?" Warrick asked.
Mr Sinclair took in a deep, shaky breath.
"She grew up with Ethan. They were best friends for years. They were like brother and sister really. She developed a heroin problem though. Broke Ethan's heart to see her like that. Then around seven months ago, she O.D and was found by her boyfriend, dead in her apartment," He answered whirly. "But he wasn't depressed or turned suicidal by it. He was upset, hell who wouldn't be, but he was just grieving. He had started to move on."
"If anyone killed Ethan it was his wife, Jennifer," Mrs Sinclair snapped.
"Tiffany," Mr Sinclair warned, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Oh come one Bob. We all knew that was a gold digger. She only married him for his money, when really she's nothing more then a cheap whore."
"Tiffany!" He snapped again.
The two CSIs exchanged looks, but said nothing.
"Bob, there's a reason she's childless. And she's probably the cause of that fall out between Julian and Ethan. I said that she was trouble."
Now Warrick cut in; "Ethan and Julian were fighting?"
Mr Sinclair nodded slightly.
"Yes, but neither of them would tell us what over."
"Bet they were covering up for her," Mrs Sinclair accused again dramatically.
Mr Sinclair looked as if he was about to say something, but he was cut off by a voice at the door.
"Sir?"
All of their heads turned round to see Clair standing in the doorway.
"There's an important phone call for you on line one," She stated.
"Can it wait?"
"No sir. Sorry."
He looked at the two CSIs as if he was asking them if he could leave.
"We might be back to ask further questions if it's needed," Nick informed.
He nodded; "Of course. Just make sure you catch the bastard who did this. I want to make sure they pay."
He got up and crossed the room back into his office, closely followed by Clair. When they were out of earshot, Tiffany Sinclair cleared her throat slightly.
"I don't care what my husband thinks, I know it was Jennifer," She declared.
"How can you be so sure?" Nick questioned her.
She gave them an annoyed look that said 'haven't you been listening?'.
"Like I said, she's a gold digger. I think she was a hooker or a stripper or something like that before she met Ethan," She spat. "He probably caught her having an affair with her old pimp or something."
She paused for a moment and sipped her ice tea.
"Anyway, the girl was getting a degree in Forensic Science. She wanted to be a Crime Scene Investigator I think. Crime Scene Investigator!" She exclaimed, "What kind of a job is that?"
~*~*~*~
Once they had left the room and were travelling back down the lift, Nick finally spoke to Warrick.
"Tell me Warrick, what sort of a job is a Crime Scene Investigator anyway?"
"A decent job which doesn't involve leaching off your husband," He replied pulling out his mobile, as they wondered back to the exit of the casino.
He dialled Grissom's number and after a couple of rings he answered.
"Grissom."
"Hey Gris, it's me."
"Warrick how did it go? What were you able to find out?"
"Mr Sinclair definitely thinks it wasn't suicide. He said his son was very upset over Miss Lukas death, but not depressed or suicidal. But you might be interested to know that Ethan and his brother, Julian, had fallen out."
"Over what?"
"Nobody else seems to know."
"Um...What did Mrs Sinclair have to say?"
"Oh well I can tell you that Cath would love her," He answered sarcastically. "She definitely doesn't like Ethan's wife, and believes that she probably murdered him. She called Jenny Sinclair a gold digger."
"A woman who's 21 years younger then her husband actually called someone else a gold digger!"
"Yep. Gris what did Jennifer Sinclair used to do before she met Ethan Sinclair?"
"Hold on I'll check."
Warrick could hear Grissom talking to another person on the other end. After a couple of minutes he returned.
"I'm back. She was a waitress."
Warrick relayed the information onto Nick, who raised an eyebrow.
"Stripper. Waitress. I bet that mistake happens all the time," He quipped drolly.
"What do you want us to do now?" Warrick asked Gris.
"I want the pair of you to come down to the crime."
"Alright. We'll be there in a bit." He hung up and turned to Nick, who had wondered off into a daydream.
"We're going to the crime scene."
"Oh?" Nick replied vaguely.
"Cheer up Nicky. You'll be able to stare after Sara again soon enough," Warrick teased.
"Yeah..." then it dawned on him what Warrick had just said. "HEY!"
But by that time Warrick had already reached the safety of the Tahoe.
A/N: What do you think? Please review and tell me. Thanks :o)
A/N: Hi again. Thanks to all who reviewed my last chapter; Emily, MissyJane, Pagan, The Madhatter, loco, pdhtgal, AetherIris, Moose, csiAngel and Juliet. Please keep them coming in, they help so much. This chapter is a little shorter then the last. I wrote it last night, but decided to post it up this morning because A) I'm up early for once before travelling to the hell hole known as school and B) It's the last day of term before the Easter Holidays, so I wanted to spread my good mood around. There is some mild bad language in this chapter, but it is PG-13 for a reason. Anyway, enough of my waffling. R&R and ENJOY!!- Bex
The Oasis casino was big, glitzy and typically Las Vegas. It was one of the most popular and successful casinos in the city. When Nick and Warrick entered they were greeted by the expensive looking interior, rows and rows of different ways for people to loose their money, and hundreds of people buzzing about, empting their wallets.
Nick watched Warrick stare at the slot machines. He could tell his addiction was still there, even if he had buried it, it was still itching to surface again. Nick tapped him on the arm causing him to look at him.
"You ok man?"
"I'm fine," Warrick reassured.
"Yeah? We better ask one of those security guards where we can find Mr Sinclair."
Warrick laughed, "How did we get landed with this job?"
"You must have done something to piss off Grissom," Nick suggest with mock seriousness.
"ME! If anyone managed to piss him off it's you. You're the one who's always staring after Sara with big puppy dog eyes. He was bound to notice sooner or later," He retorted.
"I do not STARE at Sara!"
"Yeah what ever man. You've got it bad for her, even if you don't realise it."
"Well even if I did, I can't act on it. Sara would probably break my nose and Gris would kill me," Nick stated.
"You're right about Grissom killing you, but I'm not so sure that Sara would break your nose," Warrick replied causing Nick to freeze and stare at him.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked confused.
"We should ask that guard over there," Warrick said ignoring his question and started to walk over.
"Warrick! What do you mean that you don't think she'll break my nose?" He called after him.
"Come on Nicky. Time's-a-wasting."
Nick sprinted slightly to catch up with him. He was about to repeat his question, but they had already reached the security guard. He was a large, bulky man with a shaven head, wearing a black suit.
"We're here to see Mr Sinclair. We're CSIs from the police department," Warrick informed as they showed him their IDs.
"Wait a moment," He ordered and then he spoke into his radio. "Clair, we have two CSIs down here wanting to see Mr Sinclair...uhuh....ok," He put his radio away and turned back to them, "Mr Sinclair has been expecting you. Follow me."
They followed him to a locked door, which lead to a lift. They got in the lift and travelled up 2 stories. After a couple of minutes they were in a large, lounge like room, on the other side of which was a door. Lying on one of the leather couches in the room was a lady in her late 30's. She had bleached blond hair, which was short and curly, and wore an expensive white dress.
"Mrs Sinclair, these two gentlemen are here to see..." the guard began, but she cut him off.
"I told you that no one is meant to see him. He's very upset," She snapped. "The only people you were meant to send up here were the people from the police department."
"These are the people from the police department."
"Oh!"
She sat up quickly, fixed her hair with her hand, smiled brightly and walked over.
"Oh hi there. I'm Tiffany Sinclair," Her voice drawled, "You can go now!" She snapped quietly at the guard.
"Mrs Sinclair, I'm Nick Stokes and this is Warrick Brown. We're..."
"I better go and get Bob," She cut across. "You gentle men can take a seat over there."
She bustled off over to the door at the other end of the room. Nick and Warrick exchanged a glance and walked over to sit down. Mrs Sinclair tapped smartly on the door and then opened it.
"Bob, honey, the men are here from the police department."
She walked back over followed by a much older man and a younger woman. The man had a head of fully grey hair and his face was covered with wrinkles. He had dark blue eyes, which seemed to be fixed in a permanent frown. The younger woman had short dark hair and was dressed in a blue business suit. She was probably Mr Sinclair sectary.
"Clair would fetch us some drinks," Tiffany ordered. "Sure," the young woman answered with false pleasantness, "Mr Sinclair?"
"Whiskey," He replied in a raspy voice.
She turned to Nick and Warrick.
"I'm fine thanks," They replied one after the other.
Then she turned to Mrs Sinclair.
"I want an ice tea. Make sure it has the right amount of ice in it this time."
"Sure," She replied in a sickly-sweet tone.
She plastered on a false smile, but Nick could tell what she was thinking; Bitch. She made the drink at the bar in the room and handed them out, then looked expectantly at Mr Sinclair.
"You can go now Clair. I'll call you if I need you," He dismissed her.
"Yes sir."
Mr Sinclair took a long sip of his drink as he waited for her to leave. He then turned his hard eyes at the two CSIs.
"You any closer to finding out what happened to my son?" He demanded.
"We're still trying to establish what happened. It would help a lot if you can answer a few questions," Warrick replied.
"Well I can tell you one thing for sure, it wasn't suicide."
"We're trying to confirm that," Nick answered carefully. Mr Sinclair snorted slightly and took another good, long sip of his whiskey.
"What can you tell me about Melissa Lukas and her relationship with your son?" Warrick asked.
Mr Sinclair took in a deep, shaky breath.
"She grew up with Ethan. They were best friends for years. They were like brother and sister really. She developed a heroin problem though. Broke Ethan's heart to see her like that. Then around seven months ago, she O.D and was found by her boyfriend, dead in her apartment," He answered whirly. "But he wasn't depressed or turned suicidal by it. He was upset, hell who wouldn't be, but he was just grieving. He had started to move on."
"If anyone killed Ethan it was his wife, Jennifer," Mrs Sinclair snapped.
"Tiffany," Mr Sinclair warned, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Oh come one Bob. We all knew that was a gold digger. She only married him for his money, when really she's nothing more then a cheap whore."
"Tiffany!" He snapped again.
The two CSIs exchanged looks, but said nothing.
"Bob, there's a reason she's childless. And she's probably the cause of that fall out between Julian and Ethan. I said that she was trouble."
Now Warrick cut in; "Ethan and Julian were fighting?"
Mr Sinclair nodded slightly.
"Yes, but neither of them would tell us what over."
"Bet they were covering up for her," Mrs Sinclair accused again dramatically.
Mr Sinclair looked as if he was about to say something, but he was cut off by a voice at the door.
"Sir?"
All of their heads turned round to see Clair standing in the doorway.
"There's an important phone call for you on line one," She stated.
"Can it wait?"
"No sir. Sorry."
He looked at the two CSIs as if he was asking them if he could leave.
"We might be back to ask further questions if it's needed," Nick informed.
He nodded; "Of course. Just make sure you catch the bastard who did this. I want to make sure they pay."
He got up and crossed the room back into his office, closely followed by Clair. When they were out of earshot, Tiffany Sinclair cleared her throat slightly.
"I don't care what my husband thinks, I know it was Jennifer," She declared.
"How can you be so sure?" Nick questioned her.
She gave them an annoyed look that said 'haven't you been listening?'.
"Like I said, she's a gold digger. I think she was a hooker or a stripper or something like that before she met Ethan," She spat. "He probably caught her having an affair with her old pimp or something."
She paused for a moment and sipped her ice tea.
"Anyway, the girl was getting a degree in Forensic Science. She wanted to be a Crime Scene Investigator I think. Crime Scene Investigator!" She exclaimed, "What kind of a job is that?"
~*~*~*~
Once they had left the room and were travelling back down the lift, Nick finally spoke to Warrick.
"Tell me Warrick, what sort of a job is a Crime Scene Investigator anyway?"
"A decent job which doesn't involve leaching off your husband," He replied pulling out his mobile, as they wondered back to the exit of the casino.
He dialled Grissom's number and after a couple of rings he answered.
"Grissom."
"Hey Gris, it's me."
"Warrick how did it go? What were you able to find out?"
"Mr Sinclair definitely thinks it wasn't suicide. He said his son was very upset over Miss Lukas death, but not depressed or suicidal. But you might be interested to know that Ethan and his brother, Julian, had fallen out."
"Over what?"
"Nobody else seems to know."
"Um...What did Mrs Sinclair have to say?"
"Oh well I can tell you that Cath would love her," He answered sarcastically. "She definitely doesn't like Ethan's wife, and believes that she probably murdered him. She called Jenny Sinclair a gold digger."
"A woman who's 21 years younger then her husband actually called someone else a gold digger!"
"Yep. Gris what did Jennifer Sinclair used to do before she met Ethan Sinclair?"
"Hold on I'll check."
Warrick could hear Grissom talking to another person on the other end. After a couple of minutes he returned.
"I'm back. She was a waitress."
Warrick relayed the information onto Nick, who raised an eyebrow.
"Stripper. Waitress. I bet that mistake happens all the time," He quipped drolly.
"What do you want us to do now?" Warrick asked Gris.
"I want the pair of you to come down to the crime."
"Alright. We'll be there in a bit." He hung up and turned to Nick, who had wondered off into a daydream.
"We're going to the crime scene."
"Oh?" Nick replied vaguely.
"Cheer up Nicky. You'll be able to stare after Sara again soon enough," Warrick teased.
"Yeah..." then it dawned on him what Warrick had just said. "HEY!"
But by that time Warrick had already reached the safety of the Tahoe.
A/N: What do you think? Please review and tell me. Thanks :o)