Chapter 2:
Katie held April in her lap as she hung onto her, frightened with all the people moving around her. "Katie Austin?" A man approached her.
She looked up. "Yes?"
"My name is Jim Brass, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright." She nodded her head and he continued. "Can you tell me what happened here?"
"I was protecting my sister." She said simply.
"So you felt that she would be in harms way?" She nodded her head, and Brass scribbled down on a pad. "Was your mom home?"
"She's at work, she's always at work." She said. April had her thumb securely between her lips and she had the right side of her face pressed to Katie's chest.
He was about to ask another question when a man appeared behind him. "Jim." He said as a greeting.
"Katie, this is Gill Grissom he's just going to look around a bit ok?" Katie nodded her head, knowing she had no choice. Her wrist was hurting and it was then that she realized that it was swollen.
She placed April aside but she wouldn't let go. "I have to stand up sweetie, then I'll pick you up." She said softly as she attempted to stand but got dizzy.
Jim knew she wasn't well. "Why don't we go over here and we can get you looked at." He offered. Katie knew she had to be checked out so she agreed. She took April's hand with her good one and they went over to the ambulance. She was having her arm wrapped when another man came and stood next to Brass.
"Where's Grissom?" He asked. Katie looked up and recognized the man from the grocery store earlier that day.
"Inside." Nick looked at the girl and recognized her as well.
"This is Nick Stokes, he will be joining Mr. Grissom." Brass said. The two smiled at each other and he went inside to join the investigation.
Nick walked into the house and saw Grissom as the bottom of the stairs looking at the wall. "What happened?" He asked putting on his latex gloves.
"The little girl called 911. When the officers showed up the two girls were home and the father was unconscious." Grissom filled him in as he removed a hair from a picture frame on the wall.
Nick looked at a picture hanging on the wall. It was a portrait of the two girls. "Cute kids." He looked at the next picture of the two girls, the father, and the mother.
Grissom noticed Nick staring and called him. Finally on the third try Nick looked up. "You alright?" He asked concerned looking at the picture he was looking at.
"Um, yeah. Sorry." He said apologetically.
Once they finished gathering the evidence and the photos Grissom asked Nick to collect DNA samples from the two girls, and also to check the back of the older ones head.
Brass looked at the two girls "Would you mind if he took a DNA sample?" He asked as Nick came back in front of them.
"Both of us?" Katie asked.
"Yes please." Nick spoke up. He pulled out two swabs and two bundles. "I need to take a mouth swab and a few hairs." He said unwrapping the first swab.
April, who had been sitting nicely sucking her thumb, buried her face further into Katie's arm. "I'll go first, ok?" She opened her mouth and let Nick take a cheek swab. Then, with a tweezers, he removed two strands at once and placed them in one of the bundles. "Your turn." Katie said but April refused. "C'mon." She said as she lifted the little girl onto her lap. "It doesn't hurt." She said and April looked timidly at Nick. He made a silly face at her and she gave a small smile before slowly opening her mouth. He took the swab and then the hair. She moved a bit when he took the hair but she didn't make a big fuss.
"I would also like to take a look at your head." Nick said to Katie. Grissom had found a small trace of blood on the picture frame. Katie turned slightly and nick examined her head to find a sore spot with blood. It was nothing major so he had someone clean it up and that was that.
"We need your mothers name and the place that she works." Brass said.
"Her name is Stephanie Wyly and she works at Mimi's Diner on Downey St." Katie informed him.
Nick almost dropped the swab container, causing everyone to look at him. "Sorry." He said shyly and packed up the evidence.
"I'm going to need you girls to come to the station until we can get a hold of your mom."
"Is that really necessary?" Katie asked. "She won't be off for another four hours and I really need to put her to bed."
"I think if we call her she might be able to get you soon."
Katie gave a low tisk, "Wanna bet." But luckily no one heard her, or at least no one brought it up. "She needs a booster seat. I can't drive, because it's after nine." She said not wanting to break any laws.
"I can put it in the Tahoe." Nick said. It wasn't customary for civilians to ride in the Tahoe's but Brass didn't see the harm. Besides the car seat wouldn't sit right in a squad car. Nick placed his case in the car as he took the booster seat from Katie. He put it in the back seat, behind him, and Katie hopped in the front.
The ride was quiet as Nick drove to the police department. "Thank you." She spoke up.
"For what?" He asked curiously.
"For being a nice person." She said looking at him. "I haven't come by many." She said.
"What happened to your father tonight? Did someone try to hurt you?" He asked seriously.
She let out a little laugh and looked back at April who had fallen asleep. "He's not my father, and it wasn't me I was worried about." She said turning back to the front. "I don't know who my father is, my mom refuses to talk about him." She said before laughing at herself. "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear my whole life story." She said as they pulled into the lot for the police station.
Nick led her to the interrogation room and let her sit down. She had carried April the whole way even with her bad wrist and he knew she was tired as well.
It was now ten thirty, half an hour later, when Brass showed up. "The mother won't leave work until two." He said to Nick who was watching them from behind the mirror.
"This is crazy Jim. They're practically falling asleep." Nick argued lightly.
"I can't let them be home alone." He said.
"Why don't I take them over to the lab. At least there they can lay down on the couch." He said.
Brass sighed and agreed. "I don't see the harm." He said.
Nick took the girls back to the car and drove them five minutes to the lab. "I think you two will be more comfortable here." He said as he led them to the break room. Since April was asleep Katie allowed Nick to carry her since she couldn't support her with her bad arm. Nick led them to the sofa and after Katie sat down he laid April down with her. April snuggled up to Katie and shivered a bit, so Katie wrapped her zip up around her leaving her in a tank top.
Nick followed Catherine out. "Who's that?" She asked.
"The case me and Griss got. They were at the house and the mother refuses to leave work early. I figured here they could go to sleep rather than sit on the hard chairs in the interrogation room." He said as he looked at the girls through the door. He saw Katie in a tank top and knew it was cold, but his heart melted when he saw that she gave it to her sister. He walked in and saw that Katie had fallen asleep holding April. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around the two. Before closing the light and walking out.