Nick and I got back and delivered an eggnog latte to a very grateful
Warrick. We headed back to one of the layout rooms to compare notes on
what we'd found while making phone calls. What Nick shared with me was
startling when I compared it with what I had found out.
While Chelsea Smith was an intern, she had a rather frequent visitor, a
Franklin Pierce who notably was not her husband. Another interesting fact
about this individual was that he was also part of the LV Citizen's Patrol
that Chelsea had helped to coordinate. As Nick had done a little more
research on her visitor, a few things emerged. First of all, everyone who
participated in the Citizen's Patrol had undergone a background check.
That in and of itself had not turned up anything, however, when Nick had
run Franklin Pierce's social security number, another name had popped up.
Ian Fleming. Nick and I both rolled our eyes at this one. As we dug
deeper we found that this guy had quite a few aliases including Mickey
Mantle, Leo Tolstoy, Clark Gable, and Walt Whitman, and had outstanding
felony warrants in at least six states for a variety of crimes including
rape and murder, but we couldn't locate a picture of him.
A few things that we surmised from the names he had chosen was that we were dealing with a white male between 35 and 45 years of age who was fairly well read and was interested in sports and classic movies.
As we sat there trying to figure out our next move, I suddenly had an idea. "Nick, don't they take a picture of the LVCP class each year?"
Nick grinned at me. "They sure do."
"And don't you think that someone in that class is going to be able to identify whoever this guy really is as Franklin Pierce?" I continued.
Nick just nodded. "I actually already called the officer in charge and their going to send the picture over via courier."
I chuckled. "Damn, we're good." I sure as hell hoped that we could track this guy down soon, because from what we'd dug up on him, he looked guilty as sin.
Grissom chose that moment to pop his head into the layout room. "How's the case going?"
Nick grinned at him. "We got a great lead."
Grissom looked at him quizzically. "Shouldn't you be out chasing it?"
Nick chuckled. "It should be here pretty soon."
I just rolled my eyes at Nick and turned toward Grissom to fill him in on what we'd found. "We think we've got a potential suspect, or at the very least a guy who's got quite a few felony warrants out on him in several states and he was right under our nose as a participant in the Citizen's Patrol."
Grissom looked annoyed. "Don't they do background checks?"
I nodded.
Nick interjected. "Apparently not as in depth as we do."
Grissom glanced at him. "So I gathered."
"We're just waiting to get a class photo from the coordinator so we can get visual identification on this guy so we know who we're looking for." Nick indicated.
"Keep me in the loop and let me know if you need any extra help." Grissom looked away from Nick and towards me. "Uh, Sara, can I speak to you in my office for a moment?"
"Sure." I think a slightly perplexed expression must have crossed my face for a moment because I could read concern flickering across Nick's face as I stood up to follow Grissom down the hall to his office.
As we entered his office, Grissom gestured toward the door. "Can you close the door before you have a seat?"
I nodded and wondered what was so important. I shut the door and then sat in the chair across from him. I studied him for a moment and his mannerisms didn't give much away.
He glanced up at me and a serious expression broke over his face. "Sara, I'm concerned about you."
I let out something between a scoff and a laugh.
"I'm curious as to the reason behind your broken hand." He was pressing me, and I was not in the mood for it. I wanted to get back to my case and find the killer.
"I hit Nick's dashboard. Basic physics lesson, the dashboard is a lot harder than my hand. End of story." I wanted nothing more than to get out of his office at that moment.
I could hear him exhale loudly, and I glanced up to see him studying me. "Sara, I know you, and I know that you don't get rattled very easily. What's going on?"
I shook my head. "Grissom, I'm fine. I was a little upset about this case, and I made the mistake of taking it out on something that didn't have an inch of give to it. I'll be fine."
Grissom looked at my doubtfully. "If you need to talk, my door is open. But, Sara, if you're getting too emotionally involved in this case, I can have Catherine or Warrick work it with Nick."
He certainly knew how to push my buttons at times. I wasn't going to bite. I didn't want to give him any reason to pull me off this case. I knew that Nick and I were the best CSIs for this case, not only because of our technical skill, but because we'd both been victims and had an extra motivation to leave no stone unturned. "I'm fine. I'm sure if I'm losing it, Nick will be the first one to tell me to back off the case, and he hasn't done that yet."
Grissom nodded. He knew I was right in that regard and he knew that Nick had a calming effect on me that no one else did. I think that's part of the reason he had us work together so often, we balanced each other out. I wondered to myself as I headed out of Grissom's office back to the layout room if Grissom had any clue that things between Nick and I had changed. I wondered if anyone had a clue and I wondered how Nick and I were really going to handle it at work.
Nick glanced up at me as I walked into the layout room. "Everything ok?"
"Grissom's playing psychologist and wanted to know what was behind this." I held up my broken hand to emphasize my point.
Nick raised an eyebrow at me. "You ok?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I just wish he'd leave it alone. I'm fine. At least, that's all I'm willing to tell him."
Nick studied me for a moment. "Everything ok between you and him?"
I had to laugh a little. Nick seemed worried about Grissom finding his way back into my heart. I smiled. "Nick, he asked me out to dinner last night. I turned him down. I don't want him. I want you."
A satisfied grin spread across Nick's face and a low chuckled emanated from him. "You know, a guy could take that several different ways."
Judging by the warmth I felt in my cheeks, I would have bet money that they were red. I tossed a pen at Nick and he ducked as it sailed past his head and hit the wall. "Nick Stokes, get your mind back on the case; we've got work to do." It was all I could do to keep from grinning just as big as he was because at the moment, all I wanted to do was spend some quality time kissing him.
A few things that we surmised from the names he had chosen was that we were dealing with a white male between 35 and 45 years of age who was fairly well read and was interested in sports and classic movies.
As we sat there trying to figure out our next move, I suddenly had an idea. "Nick, don't they take a picture of the LVCP class each year?"
Nick grinned at me. "They sure do."
"And don't you think that someone in that class is going to be able to identify whoever this guy really is as Franklin Pierce?" I continued.
Nick just nodded. "I actually already called the officer in charge and their going to send the picture over via courier."
I chuckled. "Damn, we're good." I sure as hell hoped that we could track this guy down soon, because from what we'd dug up on him, he looked guilty as sin.
Grissom chose that moment to pop his head into the layout room. "How's the case going?"
Nick grinned at him. "We got a great lead."
Grissom looked at him quizzically. "Shouldn't you be out chasing it?"
Nick chuckled. "It should be here pretty soon."
I just rolled my eyes at Nick and turned toward Grissom to fill him in on what we'd found. "We think we've got a potential suspect, or at the very least a guy who's got quite a few felony warrants out on him in several states and he was right under our nose as a participant in the Citizen's Patrol."
Grissom looked annoyed. "Don't they do background checks?"
I nodded.
Nick interjected. "Apparently not as in depth as we do."
Grissom glanced at him. "So I gathered."
"We're just waiting to get a class photo from the coordinator so we can get visual identification on this guy so we know who we're looking for." Nick indicated.
"Keep me in the loop and let me know if you need any extra help." Grissom looked away from Nick and towards me. "Uh, Sara, can I speak to you in my office for a moment?"
"Sure." I think a slightly perplexed expression must have crossed my face for a moment because I could read concern flickering across Nick's face as I stood up to follow Grissom down the hall to his office.
As we entered his office, Grissom gestured toward the door. "Can you close the door before you have a seat?"
I nodded and wondered what was so important. I shut the door and then sat in the chair across from him. I studied him for a moment and his mannerisms didn't give much away.
He glanced up at me and a serious expression broke over his face. "Sara, I'm concerned about you."
I let out something between a scoff and a laugh.
"I'm curious as to the reason behind your broken hand." He was pressing me, and I was not in the mood for it. I wanted to get back to my case and find the killer.
"I hit Nick's dashboard. Basic physics lesson, the dashboard is a lot harder than my hand. End of story." I wanted nothing more than to get out of his office at that moment.
I could hear him exhale loudly, and I glanced up to see him studying me. "Sara, I know you, and I know that you don't get rattled very easily. What's going on?"
I shook my head. "Grissom, I'm fine. I was a little upset about this case, and I made the mistake of taking it out on something that didn't have an inch of give to it. I'll be fine."
Grissom looked at my doubtfully. "If you need to talk, my door is open. But, Sara, if you're getting too emotionally involved in this case, I can have Catherine or Warrick work it with Nick."
He certainly knew how to push my buttons at times. I wasn't going to bite. I didn't want to give him any reason to pull me off this case. I knew that Nick and I were the best CSIs for this case, not only because of our technical skill, but because we'd both been victims and had an extra motivation to leave no stone unturned. "I'm fine. I'm sure if I'm losing it, Nick will be the first one to tell me to back off the case, and he hasn't done that yet."
Grissom nodded. He knew I was right in that regard and he knew that Nick had a calming effect on me that no one else did. I think that's part of the reason he had us work together so often, we balanced each other out. I wondered to myself as I headed out of Grissom's office back to the layout room if Grissom had any clue that things between Nick and I had changed. I wondered if anyone had a clue and I wondered how Nick and I were really going to handle it at work.
Nick glanced up at me as I walked into the layout room. "Everything ok?"
"Grissom's playing psychologist and wanted to know what was behind this." I held up my broken hand to emphasize my point.
Nick raised an eyebrow at me. "You ok?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I just wish he'd leave it alone. I'm fine. At least, that's all I'm willing to tell him."
Nick studied me for a moment. "Everything ok between you and him?"
I had to laugh a little. Nick seemed worried about Grissom finding his way back into my heart. I smiled. "Nick, he asked me out to dinner last night. I turned him down. I don't want him. I want you."
A satisfied grin spread across Nick's face and a low chuckled emanated from him. "You know, a guy could take that several different ways."
Judging by the warmth I felt in my cheeks, I would have bet money that they were red. I tossed a pen at Nick and he ducked as it sailed past his head and hit the wall. "Nick Stokes, get your mind back on the case; we've got work to do." It was all I could do to keep from grinning just as big as he was because at the moment, all I wanted to do was spend some quality time kissing him.