January 31st.
Nick was running late, he had had a flat tire when he came out of the house so his plans to be early to shift had been scuppered.
"Nice of you to join us Nick." Grissom said when he ran in late.
"Sorry flat tire." He took his seat.
Sara glanced across the table and smiled at him.
"419 at Lake Mead, you and Catherine take it." Grissom passed over the slip. "Sara, Warrick and I are still going over the evidence from our case."
"Come on Nicky." Catherine said standing.
"And Nick." Grissom said.
"Yes?" Nick questioned.
"This was left at the front desk for you." Grissom pushed an envelope across the desk to him.
"Thank you."
Nick opened the envelope as he and Catherine walked to the Denali. He got a perplexed look on his face and turned the card over checking to see if there was an explanation
"What is it Nick?" Catherine asked. Nick handed it over.
'The
bar was empty
I was sweeping up the floor
That's when she
walked in
I said, "I'm sorry but we're closed"
And
she said "I know,
But I'm afraid I left my purse"
I
said, "I put one back behind the bar
I bet it's probably
yours"
And the next thing that I knew
There we were, lost
in conversation
And before I handed her her purse
I said,
"You'll only get this back on one condition"
And we
danced.'
Brad Paisley – We Danced.
"Who would send you song lyrics?" Catherine asked.
"I don't know." Nick said confused. "It's typed so no guesses on the handwriting."
"That's odd."
"You're telling me."
"Maybe it's from Sara?" Catherine suggested.
"Sara's not a big fan of country music." Nick replied referring to his girlfriend.
February 1st
When Nick got to work the next evening there was another envelope waiting for him in his locker.
"Hey honey." Sara said coming up to him.
"Hey Sara."
"What have you got there?"
"Another envelope." Nick replied.
"What's in this one?" Sara asked. She had denied any knowledge of the first envelope.
Nick opened the envelope.
'Ask
me how much you mean to me
And I wouldn't even know where to
start
Ask if this love runs deep in me
And you won't find a
deeper love in any heart
You could say you couldn't live one day
without me
You could say all of your thoughts are about me
You
could think no other love could be as strong
But you'd be
wrong
You'd be wrong
If you say that you love me
More than
anybody
Than anyone's ever been loved before
As much as you
love me
Baby I'll still love you
Baby I'll still love you more'
Trisha Yearwood – I'll Still Love You More.
"Should I be getting jealous?" Sara asked.
"No. You know I love you Sara."
"I love you too." Sara gave him a quick kiss.
"I'd stop doing that before Grissom catches you." Warrick teased as he came in.
"Nick got more song lyrics." Sara told him.
"Someone's popular. But why country music?" Warrick asked after reading the note.
"Because he's from Texas?" Sara offered.
February 7th
By now everyone at the lab had heard about Nick's daily song lyric delivery.
On the second he had received.
I've
been too long in the wind
Too long in the rain
Taking any
comfort that I can
Looking back and longing for
The freedom of
my chains
And lying in your loving arms again
If you could
hear me now
Singing somewhere through the lonely nights
Dreaming
of the arms that held me tight
If you could only hear me now
Dixie Chicks – Loving Arms
On the third he received.
Look at
the sky, tell me what do you see
Just close your eyes and describe
it to me
The Heaven's are sparkling with starlight tonight
That's
what I see through your eyes
I see the Heaven's each time that you
smile
I hear your heartbeat just go on for miles
And suddenly I
know my life is worthwhile
That's what I see through your
eyes
Here in the night, I see the sun
Here in the dark, our
two hearts are one
It's out of our hands, we can't stop what we
have begun
And love just took me by surprise
Looking through
your eyes.
Leann Rimes – Looking Through You Eyes.
On the fourth he received.
I wish
you could only know
How much I love you so
'Cause you are all I
dream of
You're everything I need
Every moment that I live
And
every breath that I take
I only
think of you
'Cause you're the only one for me
Nicole Davidson – You're the only one for me
On the fifth he received.
Hood
up, bent over that carburetor
I skinned my knuckle
Damn, that
hurt
Got a six-pack chillin' on ice for later
And grease all
over my white t-shirt
My brother taught me how to throw a
curve ball
The cheerleadin' thing never felt quite right
When
it comes to high fashion, I hit a brick wall
This girl's just one
of the guys
You can dress me up
But it won't change
The
way I walk against the grain
I can rock your world
And if my
mood is right
You can take me home
But I'm gonna drive
'Cause
this girl's just one 'a the guys
Terri Clark – One of the Guys
On the sixth he received.
She
introduced herself as Amy, said 'call me Caroline for short'
She
said 'I just moved in three doors down so I wouldn't be the girl next
door'
And I knew the shoes she wasn't wearin' 'a fit her just
right
And she said 'Hey man, did you know
Somebody left the
grass out in the yard all night'
She's unusually
unusual
Absolutely unpredictable, yes she is
She's so
different, and that's what's wonderful, whoa whoa yeah
She's
unusually unusual
And that's beautiful to me (oh oh)
(Oh,
that's good enough for me)
LoneStar – Unusually Unusual
"So what did you get today?" Greg asked.
"Martina McBride – Make Me Believe." Nick replied.
"And you still don't know who is sending them?" Greg questioned.
"No prints. No DNA. Everyday run of the mill printer used." Nick replied.
"It's driving you mad isn't." Greg said with a smug smile.
"Do you know something about this Sanders?" Nick accused.
"Only as much as you."
February 14th.
Over the next seven days Nick received more country song lyrics.
On February 8th - After I Fall by Lee Ann Womack
On February 9th - Remember When by Alan Jackson
On February 10th – Real Live Woman by Trisha Yearwood
On February 11th – You're Going To Love Me by Heather Myles
On February 12th - Mud on the Tires by Brad Paisley
On February 13th – Everytime by Jessica Andrews.
"So Nicky what's the song of the day?" Catherine asked as she poured herself some coffee.
"No song, just a question mark." Nick replied.
"I guess whoever has been sending them to you wants answer."
"An answer to what? Everyone around here knows I'm with Sara." Nick sighed.
"Have you got the lyrics with you?" Catherine asked. "We're CSI's I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out."
"Right here." Nick pulled an envelope in which he'd been keeping them out of his jacket pocket and put them on the table.
Nick sorted them into order while Catherine read out each of the lyrics in turn.
"What's going on?" Warrick asked as he and Sara walked into the break room.
"I'm trying to help Nicky figure out the mystery of the song lyrics." Catherine replied.
"What did you get today?" Warrick asked.
"A question mark."
"I still think I prefer my red roses. Less cryptic." Sara smiled and sat down.
"He got you roses for Valentines Day?" Catherine questioned.
"Yes, he got me something else too but I'll tell you later." Sara replied.
"I'm still here you know." Nick said which caused Warrick to chuckle.
"We know baby." Sara blew him a kiss.
"Let's see." Warrick said looking at the lyrics. "We're intelligent people we should be able to figure this out."
Catherine scanned the notes. Then looked at Nick, then at Sara.
"Okay, it's a quite night so far." Grissom said walking in. "Only one call has come in so far."
"Sara and I will take it." Catherine replied before Grissom had chance to assign it. "Maybe you can help Nick out with his mystery."
"Fine ladies, it's all yours." Grissom handed over the slip to Catherine.
"Have fun." Sara said as they left.
"Sara." Catherine said as they drove to the crime scene.
"Yes."
"Interesting approach." Catherine stated.
"To what?"
"The notes, country song lyrics, no way to trace them. It was ingenious." Catherine complimented her.
"When did you figure out it was me?" Sara asked.
"I suspected after the first one. But after the reading the message it was easy to guess it was you."
"What do you think his response will be?" Sara asked.
"Sara, you already know what his response will be otherwise you wouldn't have asked."
"So what do you think Gris?" Nick asked. Grissom had read all of the notes.
"I think you better give the lady an answer." Grissom replied.
"You know what they mean?" Warrick asked.
"It's an acrostic." Grissom replied.
"Where the first letter of first word builds another word." Nick said.
"T-A-I-L-I-H-S." Warrick read the first letter of the first few lyrics in order. "That makes no sense."
"Maybe it's an anagram for something." Nick suggested.
"Good evening gentlemen and a happy valentine's day to you all." Greg said walking in.
"Hey Greg." Nick said. "Come and see if this makes sense to you. Grissom thinks it's an acrostic."
Greg came over and studied the notes.
"Are you going to say yes?" Greg asked.
"Yes to what?" Nick sighed exasperated.
"To the proposal." Greg replied. Nick looked at him. "Look if you read the first letter of the song titles in order you get… W-I-L-L Y-O-U M-A-R-R-Y M-E?"
"Sara." Nick said realising who had sent the notes.
"I should hope so; otherwise she may just shoot you." Warrick chuckled. "What are you going to say bro?"
"This is kind of out of the blue."
"Nick you've been together for a year." Greg pointed out. "And several years of flirting before hand."
Sara and Catherine drove back to the lab; their call had turned out to be nothing criminal.
"We need to talk." Nick grabbed Sara and pulled her into the nearest room when he saw her.
"What's up?" Sara asked.
"It was you sending me the notes."
"It took you long enough to work out."
"I asked you about it and you said you didn't know who sent them."
"So I lied slightly." Sara smiled. "And it was kind of fun to watch you squirm. Did you figure what it meant?"
"I think Tails is a great name for a pet too." Nick replied. Sara gave him a confused look. "Yes."
"Yes?" Sara questioned.
"Yes I figured it out, with a little help from my friends, and yes to your question."
"Really?" Nick kissed her. "I'll take that as a yes then. I love you."
"I love you too."
THE END