Damsel In Distress

Nick was sitting alone in Brass's dimly light office. Brass didn't want to put him in an interrogation room. The poor guy had been through enough, no need to make him feel like a suspect. Nick sat there silently. He kept looking at the clock worriedly. Nick was a CSI, he knew with each passing hour the chances of finding Brianna were slimmer and slimmer. Brass walked in and set down a cup of coffee in front of Nick. He went around to the other side of the desk and sat down in his chair. He had a notebook out in front of him and started taking notes.

"Listen Nick, we need to know everything you know...starting with Katie. What was she like? Was she in any trouble?"

"No!" Nick replied sharply. "Katie was a sweetheart." He paused. "I mean, she had problems, but she was a good person."

Brass looked suspicious. "What kind of problems? Gambling or drugs?"

Nick shook his head. "No, not Katie. She...she just had some emotional problems. She doesn't have any family. Her dad died and her mom ran off on her when she was a teen, so she pretty much found the first guy that would take her in, mean, abusive. After that she just went from wrong guy to wrong guy. Major self-esteem problems, you know the type."

Yeah, Brass knew the type, the kind of girl they usually pulled out of dumpsters or crack houses. The weird thing is, she didn't seem like Nick's type. Plain, mousy, unstable, that was not what Nick usually went for.

"I know what you're thinking." Nick sounded a little annoyed "Look, Katie was a good girl. She had a job, an apartment, friends...she just wanted to be loved so badly."

Nick couldn't help but feel guilty that he couldn't give Katie the love she so desperately craved.

"So, how did you two meet?"

Nick took a sip of coffee. He thought back to the first time they met.

"I met her in a club. I was having a few drinks with a friend, he left early. That's when I saw Katie sitting by herself at the bar. She seemed so lonely." He stopped and shook his head. "Warrick calls it my 'damsel-in- distress' vibe. But she was cute and nice, so I asked her out. We started dating pretty regularly. But after three months, she wanted to move in, she even brought up marriage...I just wasn't ready for that. So, I told her I needed a break."

"Okay, so where does the baby come in?"

"A week later she called me and told me she was pregnant. I told her that I didn't want to get back together, but I would support any decision she made."

Brass studied Nick. "And how did she take that?"

Nick shook his head, "Not good...especially after I mentioned a paternity test."

That didn't surprise Brass, it was the thing to do. He understood, after all, his daughter Ellie was the product of an affair his ex-wife had.

"Okay....then what happened?"

"She yelled a few profanities into the phone and hung up on me. I tried calling her, she wouldn't answer, wouldn't return my phone calls. I even tried to go see her at her apartment...she told me to get lost, she never wanted to see me again."

Nick felt stupid explaining himself to Brass. He was afraid of coming off as a jerk. He didn't need to worry though, Brass knew he was a stand-up guy.

"So then what did you do?"

Nick shrugged, "What could I do? She threatened to get a restraining order. At this point I was thinking the whole pregnancy thing was a scam, that she was just trying to get me back. God I feel like such a jack-ass."

"Well, um, was it?" Brass asked delicately. "I mean, are you sure Brianna is yours?"

"Yeah, I did a test earlier today, had Greg run it for me when he wasn't busy. I found out she was my daughter about a minute before Grissom walked in with the ticket."

Brass let out a low whistle. Wow, what a low blow, to have your daughter taken as soon as you find her. At least he had a few good years with Ellie. Brass thought about this for a few seconds.

"So let's get back to Katie, how did you find out about Brianna?" asked Brass.

"Katie called me yesterday. She wanted to let me know she had a baby girl two months ago. I asked her to come by, so I could see the baby and we could talk. She agreed....so she came in today, earlier, around six."

Brass thought quietly for a moment. Something about this did not add up. Sure, pregnant women could be emotional, but to change her mind about the paternity was odd. Brass also had a feeling there was something Nick wasn't telling him. Maybe it wasn't on purpose, so Brass decided to voice his doubts.

"Nicky, don't you think it's a little odd that a woman who threatened to get a restraining order against you, was suddenly so agreeable to you seeing her child."

"Uh, I don't know...maybe she felt guilty or she wanted child support..." replied Nick.

Nick couldn't see where Brass was going with this.

"Or maybe she was afraid?" prodded Brass.

Nick's eyes got wide. Now he understood. He remembered Katie's visit earlier.

Nick said with realization, "She did, she seemed afraid. She said Roger couldn't know that she was there, that I saw Brianna and we did the test."

Nick jumped up and paced around Brass's office. He couldn't believe how blind he was. He knew something was troubling Katie, and he just let her go.

"Dammit Jim, why didn't I see it?!"

"Calm down, calm down, we don't know anything yet." Brass tried to reassure Nick as he motioned for him to sit back down and Nick complied.

Nick put his face in his hands and tried to calm himself as he thought about Katie. It wasn't just the conversation with her that was bothering him. There were little things that a trained CSI should have noticed. Katie's clothing, and her hair hanging in her face.

Nick looked Jim right in the eye and said, "Katie was wearing long sleeves, it was like 80 degrees out and she had long sleeves on. She hated sleeves."

Brass understood what Nick was saying. Suddenly Nick stood up and rushed out of Brass's office. Brass got up and went to the door. He was too late, Nick was already down the hall.

Brass called after him, "Nick, hey wait, where are you going? We're not finished!"

"Dammit!" Brass muttered. He tried not to think about Nick's state of mind right now. He picked up the phone to call Grissom. He should be on the look out for Nick.