Chapter 3 – Case of the Ex
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Nick and Sara arrived at their crime scene and headed into the house looking for Brass.
"Where's Brass?" Nick asked an officer at the door when they didn't see him.
"Had to take another call," the officer answered.
"So who's here?" Sara asked.
"Uh, new DT. Just started a couple days ago."
"Rookie?" Sara asked, a little dismayed.
"No. Just transferred from Phoenix."
"So where is he?" Sara asked, getting impatient.
"She," the officer corrected as he looked around. "Over there. The one with the legs," he pointed.
Nick and Sara looked in the direction the officer was pointing and noticed a tall, slender blonde woman wearing a light gray skirt suit, her back turned to them.
"Detective," Sara called out to her as they approached.
The detective turned, and Nick stopped dead in his tracks. "Liv?"
The detective smiled warmly. "Nick."
"What are you doing here?" Nick asked, shocked to see the woman before him.
"I transferred back."
"Wow, it's been what, six years?"
"Just about."
"You forgot I lived here?" Nick smiled.
"No, I remembered," she smiled back.
"Where's the body?" Sara interrupted. She wasn't sure if she was more upset that they were wasting time or that Nick was flirting with an old flame or whoever she was.
"Upstairs bathroom. Cynthia Kelly, 39. Husband is out of town on business. Eight-year-old son, Cole, found his mother and called 911. Smart kid. Oh, I'm Olivia Mancini, by the way," she introduced herself to Sara.
"Sara Sidle." Sara forced a polite smile.
"Mancini?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, I got married," Olivia replied.
"Oh?" Nick tried not to sound too surprised.
"And divorced," she continued. "About two years later."
"Oh."
"Too much trouble to change my name back again," Olivia explained.
"So detective now, huh?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, for about three years now."
"Where are the stairs?" Sara asked, getting more annoyed that they were wasting time.
"That way, around the corner," Olivia pointed.
"Thanks," Nick smiled awkwardly at Olivia as he turned to follow Sara, who was already several steps ahead of him.
They processed the scene, mostly in silence, which didn't worry Nick too much. While some CSI's liked to talk out their theories as they collected evidence, Sara usually kept to herself, her thoughts churning away inside that brilliant mind of hers. Nick stole glances at her to see if she was upset about his 'reunion' with Olivia, but he couldn't tell if her grim face and wrinkled brow were from being upset at him or from concentrating on the evidence she was collecting. He figured it was the latter. Sara was too professional to think about anything but work while she was working.
When they finished they packed up their gear and drove back to the lab. Sara hadn't spoken to him the entire time they were processing, and she was still silent as they drove. Nick decided to say something.
"Sara, Liv and I-"
"You don't have to explain," she interrupted in an even tone, her face expressionless as she continued to stare out the window, avoiding his eyes.
"I want to. You're upset."
"I'm not upset."
"Sara."
Silence.
"Liv and I dated when I first came to Vegas. For about a year and a half. We broke up and she transferred. But not because of me. Well not entirely. It was kinda complicated," Nick explained. "But all of that is in the past, okay? I promise."
Silence.
"Okay?" Nick repeated.
"Okay," Sara replied in a tone a little more forceful then she'd intended. She wasn't really sure why she was upset in the first place. Was this jealousy she was feeling? She knew Nick's reputation as a womanizing playboy was highly inflated, but surely she should have realized that he probably dated his fair share of women from the lab as well as the police department. Nick was a charmer, and women in the department weren't stupid; they knew a good man when they saw one. She of all people should have known that.
Nick didn't feel like arguing with Sara, especially when they were on a case. He decided to let it go for now. Besides, he didn't think he had anything to be sorry for anyway. What, he wasn't allowed to have ex-girlfriends? While he did think it was cute that Sara was jealous, he hated when she got upset with him. The hardheaded woman sure knew how to hold a grudge.
Back at the lab, Nick and Sara proceeded to work on their case. Sara quickly forgot about Olivia as she focused on her work.
"Hey Sar, Greg has our DNA results," Nick poked his head in the room just long enough to get her attention, and then continued down the hall.
She got up from her computer and headed for the DNA lab. When she got there she found Nick arguing with Greg, Warrick and Catherine.
"Who'd you page first?" Nick asked.
"You," Greg answered.
"But I got here first," Warrick protested.
"My case is hotter," Nick reasoned.
"Well whose results are those in your hand?" Catherine interrupted, trying to break up the argument.
"Nick and Sara's," Greg answered.
"Well then hurry up and give it to them so we can get on with this," Catherine said, causing Warrick to let out an angry sigh.
Sara looked at Catherine, wondering what was going on. Catherine only rolled her eyes.
"Well I ran the blood from the knife. Not the vic's," Greg turned to Nick and Sara.
"Well we already assumed that, she didn't have any wounds consistent with a knife injury," Sara said.
"Let me finish," Greg scolded her. "But I did get a hit off CODIS," he continued.
"And?" Sara asked, getting impatient.
"Steven Kelly," Greg replied.
"The husband?" Nick wondered. "I thought he was supposed to be out of town?"
Greg shrugged.
"Why was he in CODIS?" Nick asked.
"Sexual assault, back in 95," Greg answered.
"Okay. Thanks. I'll find Liv, see if we can track this guy down," Nick said as he turned to leave.
"Liv?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, uh, Olivia Mancini, new detective, just transferred from Phoenix," Nick replied, embarrassed that he unconsciously used her nickname.
"Nicknames already?" Greg teased.
Sara rolled her eyes. "I'll be in trace," she announced with a tinge of anger in her voice as she turned to leave.
Nick glared at Greg.
"What was that about?" Catherine asked.
Nick sighed. "Remember Olivia Traverson, we dated for awhile when I first came to Vegas?"
Warrick stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember. "Man, there were so many..." he muttered, causing Catherine to giggle. "The blonde? With the legs?" he suddenly realized as he looked at Nick.
"Yeah," Nick smirked.
"She's back? And she's married?" Warrick asked.
"Divorced," Nick replied.
"Blonde? Single?" Greg perked up with a grin, only to be met with a playful slap on the arm from Catherine.
"And I take it Sara knows about your history with her," Warrick stated the obvious.
"I don't know why she's so upset. That was all such a long time ago," Nick sighed.
"Don't worry, she'll come around," Catherine patted Nick sympathetically on the shoulder. "Eventually," she added with a smile, realizing they were talking about Sara, who was second only to Catherine herself when it came to holding a grudge.
"Yeah, I guess. Thanks," Nick replied as he headed out to find Sara. As he was walking past the break room he saw her at the coffee machine.
"Hey," his voice was tentative as he approached her.
"Hodges hasn't gotten to our samples yet," she told him.
"Sara-"
"I'm fine Nick, can we just drop it for now and focus on the case?" Sara interrupted him.
Nick looked at her, knowing full well that she wasn't fine. "Sara, you gotta tell me what's wrong. It's not gonna do either of us any good if we try and work like this."
"I said it's nothing," she finished stirring the sugar into her coffee and tossed the stick in the trash as her phone chirped. "It's Hodges," she said as she read the page and headed out, leaving Nick behind.
Nick sighed as he watched her leave. He decided to give up on trying to figure out what was going on with Sara, at least until shift was over. He realized the whole thing was probably bothering him more than it was her. Sure, she was angry, but she didn't dwell on it and she kept her mind off of it by doing what she was supposed to be doing, working on the case. Nick decided that he'd better do the same, so he went to find Olivia to tell her about the DNA results.
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Shift was finally over, their case was solved, and both Nick and Sara made it through the night without further difficulties. They were both heading towards the locker room when they ran into Olivia in the hallway.
"Nice job on the case you guys," Olivia smiled.
"Thanks," Nick replied.
"You got any plans? You wanna grab breakfast, catch up?" Olivia asked Nick.
"Uh…" Nick panicked, not daring to turn his head to see Sara's reaction.
"Oh, just to catch up. I mean, as friends. I'm sure you must be involved with someone, I didn't meant to-" Olivia explained.
"No, no, it's okay," Nick interrupted. "I mean I am, but-"
"Look, never mind. Just forget I said anything. It's probably not a good idea anyway."
"It's okay, I don't mind," Sara spoke up.
Olivia stared at her, and then turned to Nick.
"Sara and I are dating," Nick explained the obvious.
"Oh, I didn't realize. Sorry," Olivia apologized.
"It's okay, really. You two should catch up," Sara said.
"You're welcome to come too," Olivia offered.
"No, you two probably have things to talk about."
"You sure?" Nick looked at Sara, surprised by her sudden change of heart with regards to Olivia.
"Yeah," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll see you later."
"Okay."
"It was nice to meet you, Olivia," Sara smiled as she left.
"You too," Olivia replied.
Nick smiled awkwardly as the two stood in the hallway. "So, breakfast?"
"Sure," Olivia said.
Sara drove home with a smile, proud of what she had just done. Over the course of the night, she realized why she was upset with Nick. And it was actually a very good reason; in fact, it was probably better that she did get upset. It made her realize something very important about her relationship with Nick. She decided to drive to his house and wait for him there; she couldn't wait to tell him.