Courting

Vega said Paige Landry posted bail. That didn't surprise Nick at all. Even though the evidence was conclusive, he still had his work cut out for him.

Nick began organizing the evidentiary findings. He knew whatever lawyer Paige would hire would question about the preliminary time of death, and the two DNA strands. He still hadn't figured that out.

The dirt had led to nothing—its makeup was consistent with most of the area. Nick kept wondering if he'd missed something. He even ran everything by Grissom, but the majority of the evidence still pointed to Paige Landry.

The two DNA strands really bothered Nick. He wasn't sure if there really was a second body somewhere, but he wondered if it belonged to a suspect he hadn't found. Part of him knew the defense would bring that up as well.

Nick went back to Phoenix Telecomm and got DNA samples of the rest of the staff. He spent hours hovering over Greg, looking over the processed results.

None of them matched.

Nick ran a hand through his hair, his fingers almost pulling at it. He glanced at his watch. It was 10 a.m, and he hadn't slept in awhile.

He sighed and went to the locker room, grabbed his jacket and left the building.

He stopped by a grocery store and picked up a couple of things—milk, cereal, a frozen pizza—

"Hello Mr. Stokes."

Nick froze. He didn't even question who it was. Slowly he turned from the frozen pizza and faced her.

Paige Landry looked, well, incredible. She wore dark gray pants and a red shirt that echoed every seductive wave she'd given him. Her hands held a blue plastic basket, filled with brie cheese, fruit, French bread, and tofu.

Nick clenched his jaw and slowly let the door to the pizzas shut.

"Miss Landry," he said with a nod. She smiled curiously at him and cocked her head to the side.

"I thought we agreed on Paige."

Nick awkwardly held onto the basket in his hands, the pizza sticking out just as awkwardly.

"Only in the interrogation room," he replied. He started to move by her, but she stepped in his way.

"Well, we're not in the interrogation room," she said. Her voice had a tint of that seduction again. Nick was used to women hitting on him, especially the ones he investigated as suspects. But none unnerved him like she did. Her confidence was firmly in place, and as she took a step towards Nick, he gulped.

Only inches remained between them.

"Paige," Nick said, his voice soft and somewhat wavering, "I just got off a long shift, and I have to be back in ten hours. Excuse me." With that, he managed to slip by her.

As he walked away, he heard her call out to him. "Staying up late for me?" she teased. Nick stopped but didn't look back.

"No," he said firmly. "For Christian Patterson."

Nick's fingers went to the knot of his tie again. He straightened it and swallowed. He hated ties. He didn't mind court appearances normally, but the whole suit and tie thing bothered him.

It didn't help that today's court day would make him face Paige Landry. He wasn't very confident in his case. It would be tough to get by the lawyers. It always was a struggle.

This isn't in front of a jury. This is just a preliminary. The pressure shouldn't be there, but yet it sat in Nick's stomach like a rock. He pulled at his suit jacket and sighed.

He heard her voice from down the hall, and Nick found himself sitting up straighter. Paige Landry talked with her lawyer as they both stalked through the court hallways. Their conversation was low, but Nick could still hear the sound of Paige's voice. She seemed a bit agitated, angry even. That shocked Nick.

"Nick."

He quickly pulled his eyes off Paige and looked up to see Detective Vega. The man motioned towards the courtroom. Nick stood and followed him. Almost as soon as he stood, he felt it—her eyes, on him.

He let himself glance her way.

She looked immaculate. A cream business suit, her hair loose and flowing around her shoulders, her makeup and complexion flawless—the image was nearly complete. Yet her face, her expression was . . . dampened. Gone was the cocky seductress.

The judge got started quickly, asking for the official plea of the defendant. Paige's lawyer stood, shooting his client a hesitant glance before speaking.

"The defense pleads . . . guilty, your honor."

Nick felt his heart lurch, and he heard Vega gasp next to him. Neither of them expected that. Nick tuned out the formalities of the court and just stared at Paige.

She kept her eyes straight ahead, not glancing his direction until the bailiffs led her out. Her footsteps clacked loudly against the hard floor, and each step seemed to echo the life sentence she would get.

Suddenly she looked back at him. Nick swallowed as he met the gaze. Her eyes . . . the challenging brown eyes were filled with fear. They seemed to plead with him.

And then she seemed to banish that. Her features hardened and she lifted her chin as she disappeared towards an oblivion Nick didn't envy.

Warrick was over at his house, watching a football game. It was University of Texas versus Texas A&M. Nick should have been on his feet, cheering at the successful plays and booing the calls he felt were wrong.

Warrick was the only one on his feet. He glanced at his friend, a little perplexed.

"Hey, Nick." He snapped his fingers, and Nick looked away from the label of his water that he'd been staring at.

"Yeah?"

Warrick raised an eyebrow at that. "You okay, man?" Nick nodded automatically, but Warrick didn't let it go. "You still bummed about court?"

Nick shook his head without thinking. "No, of course not. I mean, we won, right?" He didn't sound convinced. In fact, he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Warrick sighed and took a seat. "You know, UT just scored a touch down." Nick nodded, no doubt the least enthusiastic response to any sports-related victory he'd ever shown.

"I think I'm going to crash," Nick said, getting to his feet. He didn't look at Warrick as he made his way to his room. "Stay as long as you want."

As soon as he shut his bedroom door, Nick collapsed on his bed. His eyes found his ceiling, and he just stared at it as his thoughts drifted to the case.

Her lawyer could have gotten her off the charges, Nick thought. Why didn't he? Is that what they were arguing about? Did she push to plea guilty?

But why? She fought it before, played the mind games and all. Why suddenly admit it?

Maybe because she did do it.

Nick sighed and ran his hands over his face. That's normally all the more reason for the lawyer to get her out of it.

He wasn't sure where that left him, but Nick allowed himself to just rest his eyes.