Chapter Nine
Warm air filled Lilly's lungs as she jogged around the small park. It was her day off, and the young woman intended to take full advantage of it. Her heart was pounding, and her legs ached, but Lilly didn't stop. She continued to run, allowing all of her pent-up emotions to seep from her and fall to the ground with the sweat that poured from her body.
The still air was stifling and humid, causing the sweat to come off of her body in sheets. It soaked Lilly's track pants and her sports bra. It fell into her eyes, and down her face. In some ways it was a cleansing experience, it allowed all the impurities of Lilly's job to leave her body. It caused her to focus on her breathing, and keeping her feet moving, instead of letting her thoughts run ramped.
Exhausted, Lilly stopped to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her eyes and sat down on a bench to rest before heading home. She stretched her aching legs out in front of her and massaged them gently, kneading the flesh till it felt better.
Lately, Lilly had been working on string of arsons that had no leads, except for a single set of prints. But all the prints belonged to people who had died the day before the fires. It was confusing, to put it simply, and Lilly was tired of it. She had tried to find a connection between the prints, but there was none whatsoever. It annoyed her to no end.
With a sigh, Lilly stood and began her jog back home.
~*~*~
Changed and clean, Lilly sat at her dining table, the many love poems and cards from her secret admirer spread in front of her. The young woman was determined to find out who her mystery man was. She didn't know any men romantic enough to come up with such a scheme; at least she didn't think she did.
From a close study, and using the little bit she knew about handwriting analysis, Lilly was able to determine that the writer was right handed, but that was it.
"Some help that is." She said, her voice echoing slightly in the empty apartment. She bent over the letters, concentrating hard for any more clues given. The shrill ringing of the telephone interrupted her. Startled, Lilly reached up on the wall and grabbed the cordless phone.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Lilly." Lilly's face brightened at the sound of the voice on the other end.
"Daddy!" She squealed.
"Hey kiddo," her father said laughing, "How's the job going?"
"It's good." Lilly replied, "Why haven't you called me?"
"I was letting you get settled. Besides, you could have taken the time to call your old man." Her father accused playfully.
"You're not old daddy." She said.
"Well thank you." Lilly could hear the teasing smile in her father's voice.
"So how are things there?" he asked, "Was it worth leaving me and your poor mother."
"I think so." Lilly teased, "My co-workers are great, I get to do what I love, and Uncle Gil is the greatest boss ever."
"Ah, how is good old Gil?"
"Uncle Gil's fine. How's mom?"
"She's good. She misses you something fierce though, we both do."
"I miss you guys too."
"I thought you'd say that, so I took next week off of work, and your mother and I are gonna visit Vegas for your birthday."
"Are you serious!"
"As a heart attack."
"Oh, that's the best present you could ever give me daddy."
"That's good to hear since we nearly went flat broke putting you through college."
"I had a full scholarship dad."
"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about your mother's therapy bills. Major case of separation anxiety you know." Lilly and her father shared a laugh.
"Well I've got to get back to work." Her father said, "We'll see you soon."
"Bye Daddy, say hey to mom for me."
"Will do kiddo. I love you."
"Love you too dad."
"Bye." Lilly's father hung up, leaving Lilly to listen to the dial tone. The young woman smiled to herself. Her parents were coming to visit for her birthday! Lilly had been so wrapped up in her work that she had never noticed how long she'd been in Las Vegas, nor how quickly her birthday had crept up on her.
"Twenty years old." She said, "I can't believe it."
~*~*~
A black Ford Mustang pulled into the parking lot of Lilly's apartment complex early the next week. A middle-aged man and woman stepped out and pulled their luggage out of the backseat.
The man was tall and lean with thinning salt and pepper hair. His cerulean blue eyes sparkled behind thin glasses. The woman was shorter than the man, and had a lustrous head of golden hair. Her own mint green eyes shone with life and excitement.
The two made their way to Lilly's apartment and knocked.
"Mom, dad!" Lilly cried opening the door, "I didn't expect you guys till later."
"We wanted to surprise you." Lilly's mother said with a smile as she hugged her daughter.
"Hey kiddo." Her father said also hugging her.
"Come in, come in. Uncle Gil will be over for dinner." Lilly said ushering her parents inside her apartment, "and tomorrow I'll take you down to the lab and you can meet everybody."
"We'd like that very much Lils." Said her mom.
~*~*~
"So this is the lab." Lilly said leading her parents into the forensics lab. Tasha, the receptionist, handed the couple visitor's passes, and they continued farther into the lab. Lilly showed them to Grissom's office where Gil greeted his two best friends heartily. Lilly then took them down the hall where they bumped into Catherine and Nick, who were happy to meet Lilly's parents. The young woman then led them to the trace lab where Greg was sitting working on something.
"Hey Greg." She greeted him. The lab technician hurriedly covered the paper he was writing on.
"Hi Lilly." Greg said.
"Greg I want you to meet my folks, Tom and Vivian."
"It's nice to meet you both." Greg said shaking hands with the both of them.
"You too Greg." Tom Carter said.
"How long are you folks in town for?" Greg asked.
"About a week, or as long as our little sugar cookie will let us stay." Tom said wrapping an arm around Lilly's shoulders. Greg raised his eyebrow at Lilly in question and mockery at the nickname. She glared at him.
"We better get going you guys." Lilly said ushering her parents from the room, "I still have so much to show you."
"It was nice meeting you folks." Greg called after them, "See ya later sugar cookie." Lilly turned and, ever so maturely, stuck her tongue out at him.
~*~*~
Well I hope that you liked this chapter (crosses fingers hopefully) I know that this chapter was really short, and REALLY bad, so forgive me. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought. I'll try to get back to you, but I make NO guaranties. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my pitiful attempt at a story.
Warm air filled Lilly's lungs as she jogged around the small park. It was her day off, and the young woman intended to take full advantage of it. Her heart was pounding, and her legs ached, but Lilly didn't stop. She continued to run, allowing all of her pent-up emotions to seep from her and fall to the ground with the sweat that poured from her body.
The still air was stifling and humid, causing the sweat to come off of her body in sheets. It soaked Lilly's track pants and her sports bra. It fell into her eyes, and down her face. In some ways it was a cleansing experience, it allowed all the impurities of Lilly's job to leave her body. It caused her to focus on her breathing, and keeping her feet moving, instead of letting her thoughts run ramped.
Exhausted, Lilly stopped to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her eyes and sat down on a bench to rest before heading home. She stretched her aching legs out in front of her and massaged them gently, kneading the flesh till it felt better.
Lately, Lilly had been working on string of arsons that had no leads, except for a single set of prints. But all the prints belonged to people who had died the day before the fires. It was confusing, to put it simply, and Lilly was tired of it. She had tried to find a connection between the prints, but there was none whatsoever. It annoyed her to no end.
With a sigh, Lilly stood and began her jog back home.
~*~*~
Changed and clean, Lilly sat at her dining table, the many love poems and cards from her secret admirer spread in front of her. The young woman was determined to find out who her mystery man was. She didn't know any men romantic enough to come up with such a scheme; at least she didn't think she did.
From a close study, and using the little bit she knew about handwriting analysis, Lilly was able to determine that the writer was right handed, but that was it.
"Some help that is." She said, her voice echoing slightly in the empty apartment. She bent over the letters, concentrating hard for any more clues given. The shrill ringing of the telephone interrupted her. Startled, Lilly reached up on the wall and grabbed the cordless phone.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Lilly." Lilly's face brightened at the sound of the voice on the other end.
"Daddy!" She squealed.
"Hey kiddo," her father said laughing, "How's the job going?"
"It's good." Lilly replied, "Why haven't you called me?"
"I was letting you get settled. Besides, you could have taken the time to call your old man." Her father accused playfully.
"You're not old daddy." She said.
"Well thank you." Lilly could hear the teasing smile in her father's voice.
"So how are things there?" he asked, "Was it worth leaving me and your poor mother."
"I think so." Lilly teased, "My co-workers are great, I get to do what I love, and Uncle Gil is the greatest boss ever."
"Ah, how is good old Gil?"
"Uncle Gil's fine. How's mom?"
"She's good. She misses you something fierce though, we both do."
"I miss you guys too."
"I thought you'd say that, so I took next week off of work, and your mother and I are gonna visit Vegas for your birthday."
"Are you serious!"
"As a heart attack."
"Oh, that's the best present you could ever give me daddy."
"That's good to hear since we nearly went flat broke putting you through college."
"I had a full scholarship dad."
"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about your mother's therapy bills. Major case of separation anxiety you know." Lilly and her father shared a laugh.
"Well I've got to get back to work." Her father said, "We'll see you soon."
"Bye Daddy, say hey to mom for me."
"Will do kiddo. I love you."
"Love you too dad."
"Bye." Lilly's father hung up, leaving Lilly to listen to the dial tone. The young woman smiled to herself. Her parents were coming to visit for her birthday! Lilly had been so wrapped up in her work that she had never noticed how long she'd been in Las Vegas, nor how quickly her birthday had crept up on her.
"Twenty years old." She said, "I can't believe it."
~*~*~
A black Ford Mustang pulled into the parking lot of Lilly's apartment complex early the next week. A middle-aged man and woman stepped out and pulled their luggage out of the backseat.
The man was tall and lean with thinning salt and pepper hair. His cerulean blue eyes sparkled behind thin glasses. The woman was shorter than the man, and had a lustrous head of golden hair. Her own mint green eyes shone with life and excitement.
The two made their way to Lilly's apartment and knocked.
"Mom, dad!" Lilly cried opening the door, "I didn't expect you guys till later."
"We wanted to surprise you." Lilly's mother said with a smile as she hugged her daughter.
"Hey kiddo." Her father said also hugging her.
"Come in, come in. Uncle Gil will be over for dinner." Lilly said ushering her parents inside her apartment, "and tomorrow I'll take you down to the lab and you can meet everybody."
"We'd like that very much Lils." Said her mom.
~*~*~
"So this is the lab." Lilly said leading her parents into the forensics lab. Tasha, the receptionist, handed the couple visitor's passes, and they continued farther into the lab. Lilly showed them to Grissom's office where Gil greeted his two best friends heartily. Lilly then took them down the hall where they bumped into Catherine and Nick, who were happy to meet Lilly's parents. The young woman then led them to the trace lab where Greg was sitting working on something.
"Hey Greg." She greeted him. The lab technician hurriedly covered the paper he was writing on.
"Hi Lilly." Greg said.
"Greg I want you to meet my folks, Tom and Vivian."
"It's nice to meet you both." Greg said shaking hands with the both of them.
"You too Greg." Tom Carter said.
"How long are you folks in town for?" Greg asked.
"About a week, or as long as our little sugar cookie will let us stay." Tom said wrapping an arm around Lilly's shoulders. Greg raised his eyebrow at Lilly in question and mockery at the nickname. She glared at him.
"We better get going you guys." Lilly said ushering her parents from the room, "I still have so much to show you."
"It was nice meeting you folks." Greg called after them, "See ya later sugar cookie." Lilly turned and, ever so maturely, stuck her tongue out at him.
~*~*~
Well I hope that you liked this chapter (crosses fingers hopefully) I know that this chapter was really short, and REALLY bad, so forgive me. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought. I'll try to get back to you, but I make NO guaranties. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my pitiful attempt at a story.