Part 2
As Nick looked around the area of the car for any clues that would answer some of their questions, Greg walked around the parking garage. He was about to head back to the car when he saw someone running towards a door. Greg turned to yell for Nick, but decided that there wasn't enough time. So Greg chased the person through the door, up the stairs and onto the next level. But Greg wasn't fast enough. Greg couldn't see nor hear anything, so he went back down and met Nick by the car.
"I saw someone running to a door, so I chased him. Went upstairs but lost him there," Greg explained upon returning to Nick's questioning look.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be chasing anyone. Especially since we don't know who they are or if they're dangerous," Nick scolded. "I don't want to have to tell Grissom that you got hurt playing hero."
"I was just trying to see who it was. Did you find anything?"
"Nothing useful. I'm not missing anything from my suitcase, you should check yours."
After a few seconds of ruffling around, Greg shrugged and said, "Nothing."
The two shut their suitcases and headed back to their room. While unpacking, Nick and Greg exchanged stories in detail. Nick wrote down the vague description that Greg gave, and added to it the facts- the suitcases and the car door being picked open. While Nick relayed all that had taken place to Grissom, Greg sat in front of the TV with the volume turned down, watching the video for "Aerials" by System of a Down on MTV2.
"What did Gris have to say?" Greg asked.
"He just wants us to keep our eyes open and be careful, to enjoy the conference and for you to stay out of trouble," Nick answered.
"So you'll be playing babysitter?" Greg sighed.
"Not me, man. You're old enough to make your own decisions," Nick retorted.
After settling in to their room, Nick and Greg headed downstairs to one of the meeting rooms where they checked in to the conference. They were given name tags, schedule of events and brochures about the Burlington area.
"I wonder if we'll have time to do any of this," Nick said, mostly to himself, as he perused the brochures he was given.
"I hope so," Greg piped in, coming up behind him.
"At least we have the rest of today to look around. We just have to be back here at seven for dinner," Nick noted, as he checked the schedule for the day.
"What do you say we check out Church Street?" Greg asked. "It's pretty close, plus there seems to be stuff to do. And I've been dying for some Ben and Jerry's."
"Ben and Jerry's? What's that?"
"You've never heard of Ben and Jerry's? It's ice cream Nick. The best ice cream there is."
Nick and Greg left the hotel, walked up Cherry Street until they reached Church Street. Along the way, they talked about mundane things like ice cream, football and the girls in Vegas.
"I wonder if Burlington has girls like that?" Greg asked.
"I doubt it, Greg," Nick answered as they passed a bunch of college kids.
When they got to Church Street, they turned left. They went into various shops along the pedestrian only zone, noting which places they liked and would like to back in. At Ben and Jerry's, Nick was amazed by the amount of people in the shop…and out of it in line. Then he noticed a sign.
"Sweet, free cone day!" Greg exclaimed. "And I know what I'm getting. One Sweet Whirled."
"What's in that?" Nick asked.
"Caramel and coffee ice cream with marshmallow, caramel and chocolate chips. I think that's the one Dave Matthews Band created, or something like that."
"I wonder what else they have?" Nick said.
"Lots of them. You'll see when we get inside."
"Try the From Russia with Buzz. I think you'd like it," someone behind them said.
A chill went down Nick's spine, forcing him to hide a shiver. Nick slowly turned around, and looked. But he didn't see what he expected. All he saw were people waiting in line, just like him and Greg. No one looked familiar.
Nick felt a tap on his arm. Turning, he saw Greg, some concern in his eyes. "Something wrong, Nick?" Greg asked.
"No," Nick lied. "Just wondering who said that. I wanted to ask what was in it."
"Just coffee ice cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. It's one of my favorites. Good for a little caffeine high."
Nick tried to ignore the nagging feeling left by that eerily strange voice. But he didn't ignore it well enough, since Greg knew something was up. And that made Greg very nervous.