Here is the 2nd chapter of Nevada; school starts tomorrow so I'm putting it up now. Not mysterious yet, but it's still in the early stages so genre may be changed.
Chapter 2 – When Greg Met Casey
NICK'S APARTMENT
The SUV arrived later than expected at the apartment. Nick had used Casey's phone to call Grissom they'd be late.
"And this is your new humble home, Casey. Now I know it's the size of a linen closet compared to your mansion back in England, but –" Nick was cut off by Casey holding up her hand as a signal to stop rambling on.
"Are you kidding? I love it! I've never lived in an apartment before!" she said excitedly.
"Well that's settled then. Come on, I'll give you a quick tour and then we'd best get going to CSI – we're two hours late," he added worriedly.
Nick's apartment had two bedrooms. He showed Casey to hers.
"This," he gestured, "is your room. Tomorrow we can go and get some new stuff for it if you want. And there's a TV in my room and the lounge, a computer in the study plus my laptop. No doubt you have your own, though!"
He left Casey in her room, gazing in awe at the view through the window. Vegas was just waking up from its sleep.
Nick returned with a stack of post, waving an envelope at her.
"For you," he said, "came in the mail. Someone obviously knows you're here, is it a friend?"
Casey took it, turned it over and to her horror, was sealed with that same blue sticker with "NVR SRV" written in silver. She quickly hid her terrified look from Nick, who had already gone into the kitchen to sort out his pile of post. Trembling, she opened the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper. Again, it was a letter written anonymously, this time printed from a computer, not cut outs.
'3 years after you drink you'll be happy. But high spirits can be brought low and life can be cut. Watch your step or you and your guardian will be sorry.'
She wondered what it meant. It couldn't be a riddle. It had to be something to do with the death of her parents.
"Of course!" she whispered, "18 is when you can drink, plus 3 is 21, and 21 is when most people get an inheritance!"
"Casey? We have to go now!" yelled Nick from outside.
She paused for a moment, then shoved the second letter into her Quiksilver bag with the first. She pulled on her Vans and ran out of the front door.
CSI
"Sorry we're late, Griss!" gasped Nick as he and Casey ran into the Layout Room where the Nightshift team were discussing a case.
"So this is Casey Stokes, your niece?" asked Grissom, looking down at the small girl next to Nick.
"Yep, you must be Gil Grissom. Nick's told me all about you," answered Casey.
Warrick stared. He couldn't believe that that 4ft 8 13 year old girl was really Nick's niece. Casey noticed him staring.
"Something wrong? Warrick, is it?"
Warrick expected to hear a soft Texan accent, like Nick, but was surprised to hear an English accent. She looked at him with almond shaped brown eyes, innocent and mysterious.
"Yeah that's me. Warrick Brown. And how are you Casey? You like Vegas so far?"
"I'm fine thanks, a little tired though. The only parts of Vegas I've been to are Nick's apartment and here, CSI."
Catherine chuckled. She held out her hand and introduced herself. "Catherine Willows, second in command to Bugman over there. Glad you came, honey," as she and Casey shook hands. Casey smiled. She like Catherine best so far. She was much more open and friendly than the others. 'She must be good with people' she thought.
Sara followed in the same suit. "Hey Casey, I'm Sara. Sara Sidle. Welcome to Vegas!"
With the introductions over and done with, they continued discussing the case they were dealing with. Casey sat in between Catherine and Nick, listening eagerly to what Grissom was saying.
"Looks like another serial killer on the loose, team. He or she targets people involved with the law. Lawyers, judges, all the wealthy ones anyway. Our killer must be ex-military or very experienced in grenades. Tosses a smoke one to attract the targets to a certain spot, then uses a satchel charge or frag grenade to eliminate them. Or a remote bomb in their car."
"Why?" asked Sara.
"Maybe he either has or had connections with people like them and somehow he lost out on something," guessed Warrick.
"But for some reason he leaves the children of these unharmed. First he sends them threats. Mysterious letters in the mail, sealed with a sticker with the letters NVR SRV. Writes a load of crap that needs to be thought about before you understand it. In the first two cases that happened, the children – Mara Grey and Solomon James – were sent threats for a period of time, then were found shot dead in their homes. They were to inherit their parents' money at the age of 21, but it mysteriously disappeared. Even the FBI can't trace it. And we're talking millions of dollars here, plus one or two houses overseas," finished Grissom.
Casey's eyes widened. Her heart began beating faster and faster, thumping so hard she thought the others could hear it clearly.
"Casey?" Catherine touched her on the arm, gently shaking her, "everything OK?"
Casey nodded. It was better not to say anything – yet. She didn't want to be sent away back to England because she was in possible danger. "So do we have anything to test for DNA, any prints to find, anything at all?"
"This can be your first assignment, Casey. Go with Catherine to DNA and get these tested for me," said Grissom. He handed Catherine some swabs and tiny envelopes containing hairs, Casey guessed.
"Here, take this," added Grissom, "Your ID, Casey Stokes, CSI Level 1." He smiled.
Casey took the ID gratefully. She was living the dream, but at the same time living the nightmare. Someone was tracking her down. Someone was going to get her. Her thoughts were interrupted by Catherine dragging her out the door.
"Let's go to DNA, Case. Greg's been dying to meet you!" Catherine gave a look of mischief to her colleagues, then turned back to Casey. "Greg's our DNA lab guy. He's been counting down the seconds until your first meeting."
SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
A person, male or female we do not know yet, sits at a desk in an unknown location. They are busily working away on a computer checking his or her banking records and accessing the FBI mainframe. They will not be tracked if all goes to plan. The person begins to write a letter. To who and why we do not know. We leave this mysterious figure with their business and go back to Vegas…
DNA LAB, CSI
Catherine led Casey into the DNA Lab. "Ask Greg to give you DNA profiles on these pieces of evidence," she whispered and gestured to the young man listening to some rock music through headphones whilst working on his computer running profiles through CODIS.
Casey tapped Greg on the shoulder. He became alert and spun around on his office chair. He looked up and down at Casey and grinned. He was pretty impressed. She was pretty, looked intelligent and certainly looked like she had a great sense of humour just by looking at the smile on her face.
"Casey Stokes, right? Nick's niece? I'm Greg Sanders, your DNA guy. God of the lab and at your service," said Greg, bowing low to Casey. His attention turned to Catherine. "And the lovely Catherine Willows, it is an honour to meet you again."
Catherine and Casey gave him big smiles. "Hey Greg," said Casey, "could you give me a DNA profile for all these pieces of evidence please?"
Greg took the evidence from her. "Ah, the latest serial case, right? I'll have your results for you ASAP. I'll page you. Hey wait a minute, it looks like someone's already got their brand new CSI ID!"
Casey smiled proudly. "Level One though, Greg. I hope I live long enough to even get to Level Two!"
"What do you mean, Casey?" asked Catherine curiously. Something that Casey had just said didn't seem right.
"Oh, um nothing, it's just that you and the team have been working your way up for years and I'm going to take 10 years just to solve a case I bet!" lied Casey. She could've kicked herself for letting her guard down like that. Still, she could tell Catherine couldn't she? She trusted her! And Nick too! But Casey knew she had to hold it back.
"So," said Greg to Casey, wanting some conversation with her at last, "are you going out with anyone right now?"
Catherine nearly burst out laughing again. 'This is something I HAVE to tell them' she thought.
Casey looked a little surprised at this sudden personal questions. "No, I'm not Greg."
"Really? Well I'm 28, how old are you?" Greg seemed very interested in her.
Catherine glanced at the wall clock and cleared her throat. "Greg," she began, "we have to go, Grissom's probably on a rampage now. But I would've thought you knew it's rude to ask a lady her age."
"See you in the Layout Room," she said to Casey.
Casey looked at Greg. "Yes, it is rude you know, however, I'm not really old enough to be a lady, so I'll tell you. I'm 13."
"Really?"
"Yep…see you around Greggo."
She left Greg with his mouth wide open. The door clicked shut and he came back to his senses.
"Damn, I didn't ask her for her cell phone number!" he muttered to himself.
