Thanks for the reviews guys! White Time Ranger, you made my day!
Yeah, yeah, plenty of bad news. Don't worry, I plan to end this happily! Just bear with me a few more chapters.
Chapter 19: Aftermath
The next afternoon when Sara got home, she was surprised to see Nick there. He was standing on the step ladder, screwing in the lightbulb that blew out yesterday. (A/N: No 'how many CSI's does it take to screw in lightbulbs' jokes please... lol!)
Sara said,"Hey..."
"Oh, hi," Nick replied, getting down from the step ladder. "Just thought I'll fix that before..." he left that sentence hanging and walked towards the couch.
Sara followed him and she did not like what she saw behind the couch, a suitcase.
Nick continued,"I fixed the leaking pipe in the bathroom, stocked up the fridge and done some cleaning," he picked up his car keys on the coffee table. Beside it was a picture of Nick, Sara and the twins, a happy family.
Nick picked it up and sighed,"I think it will be better forus if I move out for the time being. maybe life will be better for us that way. I'll be staying at my mom's place, so Emily will know where to find me," as he put the picture frame back onto the table.
"Bye, Sara," he muttered as he picked up his suitcase and went out of the house, leaving Sara speechless.
"Are you sure..."
"Ma, please. I've made up my mind."
"But Sara..."
"Will be fine. It's better for us this way. Emily! Are you ready?" called Nick.
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, boiling hot as usual. Nick planned to take Emily out to the park. For some reason, Jen and Wes wanted to join them too.
Nick went into the spare bedroom, where Emily stays in on her visits, to check on her.
At that time, the doorbell rang. Mrs Stokes answered it. Wes and Jen were there, both in sports attire. "Hey there. Mrs Stokes!" grinned Wes.
Mrs Stokes smiled,"Hi Wes, Jen,"
"Coming Nicky?" called out Jen.
"Yeah, yeah, just a sec," was the reply.
"Hi Aunt Jen! Uncle Wes!" came Emily's voice.
"Hi, Em!" said Wes and Jen simultaneously.
Jen turned to Mrs Stokes,"Sara come by?"
Mrs Stokes shook her head,"No... talk some sense into Nick, ok guys?"
They nodded in return, though doubtfully. Nick can be very stubborn when he wants to...
Soon, the four of them headed out to the park. Upon arriving, they played a little basketball, girls versus guys. Emily always shputed with glee whenever Jen lifted her into the air to score.
After an exhausting match, they settled downon a bench to rest. Emily was saying,"We beat you flat, daddy!"
Nick moaned,"Ah... you're just lucky!"
Jen smirked,"Lucky? It was skill, right Emily?"
"Yeah Aunt Jen!" slapping her a high five.
Wes grinned,"It's no longer a man's world, eh Nicky?" Nick grinned back.
There was a moment's silence, where Jen and Wes exchanged looks.
Suddenly, Jen said,"Come on, Emily, let's go buy some ice cream,"
"Yay!" said Emily and jumped up from her seat.
Wes' eyes widened, clearing stating to Jen, 'I don't want to talk to him about Sara!'
Jen merely smiled back and took Emily with her, toward the ice cream truck.
Wes was silently trying to think of a way to convince Nick to go back to Sara but it was Nick who spoke first,"So, how are the wedding plans going?"
Wes replied,"Oh, great. We're planning to have the wedding in a church then a little party at my dad's mansion later,"
Nick nodded,"Sounds great. I'm really happy for you guys. You're great together,"
Wes took a deep breath. Jen was sure taking her own sweet time to get ice cream. Wes said,"Hey,Nick, I just want to apologize,"
Nick frowned, "For what?"
"Well, if Warrick and I had solved the code sooner, we could have saved Michael..."
Nick shook his head,"Hey, don't apologize, man. It's not your fault. Nor Warrick's,"
"But..."
"Look, we've been friends for a long time. Five, six years? I know you, you and Warrick would have done all you could to help me. It's not your fault,"
Wes nodded,"That long, eh? Gosh, we're old..." Nick chuckled.
Wes quickly said,"Well, as a friend, I just want to say, forgive Sara. It's not her fault either. She was just trying to do the right thing. It's Mc Cormick who took it the wrong way,"
Nick did not say anything. After a moment, he said,"So, do you have any plans to catch out masked phantom?"
Wes frowned,"Well, I'm gonna go to the church tomorrowand ask the pastornot to bring the bible to jail anymore..."
"I have a better idea. Listen..."
Wes glanced around the crime lab, everyone was carrying on with their own business. Just a typical day.
Wes slipped into the now empty conference room, shutting the door behind him. He went over to his place and pulled out the bible from the church.
He was going to return it tomorrow with a small bonus, if anyone other than Nick came in and found out what he was doing, he will be dead meat.
Wes took out the paper containing the message Nick asked him to write. Wes sighed,'That idiot had better know what he is doing...' he thought.
He opened the bible and using a red ink pen, began to mark letters at random. After 15 minutes, he rechecked the message to make sure he made no mistakes:
'Find Nick Stokes and make sure he dies this time,'
Wes shut the bible and carried on with his own case. If his calculations were right, the masked phantom will check this bible tomorrow. As he went out of the conference room, Wes was still unable to shake off the feeling that Nick is doing something extremly stupid.
Unbeknownst to him, the little piece of paper containing the message Wes had written was still on the table.
TBC
Uh-oh. Wes is in for it! What's going to happen to Nick? How's Sara? All will be revealed next chapter. Review as always!