Nick and Sara had already spent several hours going through the storage unit belonging to Colin McKenzie. Sara's hunch had been correct. The unit was packed with a collection of items so random it seemed as if they'd stepped inside a giant junk drawer.
"Man this guy is a freaking packrat." Nick exclaimed as he opened yet another box, this one full of baseball cards.
Sara huffed out her nose. Something told her that this was their last chance. If they didn't find something in there then Colin would most likely walk and Camille wouldn't get the justice she deserved. Suddenly, she reached for another box, one that had been near the back, but looked as if it had been recently placed there. As she pulled it open a chuckle escaped unbidden. "I think we've got him."
Nick's head snapped up and turned his attention towards her. "What do you have?"
Sara motioned for him to come over to her. "Bring the camera. I want to make sure this is documented by the book."
"As if you'd do it any other way." Nick grinned at her as he handed her the camera.
She took several shots of the box from above before pulling out a zip lock plastic bag with knife inside. Traces of blood were evident on the hilt. She smirked at Nick as she handed him the camera. "Look, he even bagged it for us."
Nick chuckled and held the camera up to take a shot. "Say cheese, Sara."
She rolled her eyes. "Let's call Brass and have him get some cadets out here to move all of this stuff." She gestured towards the storage unit.
He nodded. They were both bone tired and there would be plenty of time next shift to sift through the rest of the boxes. For the time being at least it appeared that they had what they came for; a weapon that was most likely used to kill Camille Matthews. DNA would help them know for sure and they couldn't do anything more until they had those results.
Nick made a quick call to Brass and within an hour several police cadets arrived with a large truck to move the contents of the storage unit back to the lab. He glanced over at Sara as the loading began and noticed her letting out a yawn. He stepped closer to her and leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Let's call it a day."
She nodded. "Food then sleep."
Nick was somewhat surprised that she didn't protest when he reached out and took her hand as they walked towards his Denali since they were technically still at a crime scene. As they reached the passenger side of the vehicle, Nick leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
Sara smiled and then wearily climbed into the SUV. By the time they'd stopped by the lab to drop the knife off in DNA and then driven to her apartment, she was asleep.
Nick descended from the vehicle and went around to the passenger side, opening the door and slowly unbuckling Sara's seatbelt. "Sara, we're here."
Her eye fluttered open and she let out a sleepy yawn. She slid out of the Denali and took Nick's hand. "I changed my mind."
Nick cocked his eyebrow curiously.
"Sleep then food." She couldn't believe that she'd fallen asleep so easily on the way home.
"No arguments from me." Nick agreed.
As they stopped at her door, Sara fumbled for her keys in her purse and she glanced up at Nick. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."
He pursed his lips together to keep from smiling. "Do you want me to?"
Now it was her turn to try and keep from smiling. "Yeah."
"Then I want to stay." He grinned at her. "And don't worry, I'm not going to pressure you into doing anything you're not ready for." He reached over and combed his fingers lightly through her hair and then kissed her cheek.
She pushed the door open and smiled at Nick's affectionate gesture. "Good."
Nick closed the door behind them as they both dropped their keys and cell phones on the counter as they passed by the kitchen, kicking their shoes off on the way to her bedroom.
Sara disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later clad in pajamas to find Nick stripped down to his T-shirt and boxers already under her covers and sound asleep. She smiled as she slipped into bed next to him and almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow she was asleep as well.
"So it's definitive then." Sara wanted Greg to just hurry up and get to the point. She was anxious to see Camille Matthews get justice and at the moment, Greg's inclination to 'make a presentation' was hindering that.
Greg sensed her agitation. "Yes. There are two blood donors on the knife. One is human and one is feline, and the DNA markers of the human blood are a match to your victim, and her sister."
Sara raised an eyebrow. "Well, Jenna doesn't have any injuries."
"I'm just saying that since she and your vic are identical twins they have the same DNA profile, so you might want to verify that she doesn't have any injuries consistent with this knife, especially if Colin McKenzie gets a good lawyer." Greg offered. He knew how many times perfectly good evidence was called into question by slick lawyers in the middle of a trial. He also knew that this case had really bothered Sara and he wanted to do whatever he could to help make sure that their killer stayed behind bars.
Sara nodded. "Good point, but we've already got it covered. Camille's blood, the cat's blood, and Colin McKenzie's storage unit complete the triangle. He's guilty as hell."
Nick sauntered into the DNA lab and smiled. "Did you get it?"
She grinned at him. "We sure did. Let's call Brass and get a warrant."
Without thinking, Nick leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "You're amazing."
Sara felt a faint blush creep up her cheeks as she cleared her throat and glanced over at Greg.
Nick looked like he was about to say something when Greg interrupted him, smiling in spite of himself. "If it couldn't be me, I'm glad it's you."
Nick coughed nervously. "Thanks man." He looked at Sara apologetically. "I wasn't thinking."
She smirked. "I know, but I kind of like it."
