Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown headed to the morgue to get Doc Robbins' report on Nancy Brookes. The senior CSI really hoped they could pin point the time of death, but she knew in this type of science that it would be near impossible to narrow it down any more. Catherine wore a brown suit jacket and pants, with a red blouse. Her flat heeled dress shows echoed off the tile as she headed towards their destination.

Warrick Brown wore a black and gray patterned shirt with the top three buttons undone. His long black jeans almost hid his comfortable sneakers. He had punched in early to go over all of the case notes pertaining to the two homicides at the gym, and he still needed to follow up on the car accident that occurred a few months before. There had to be some missing link between the three deaths that was overlooked, besides the evidence of steroid abuse.

Warrick looked at his watch, noting that the third member of their team had not arrived yet. Nick was only twenty minutes late. He was sure Catherine noticed, but so far, she hadn't mentioned it. Doc Robbins was crouched over the body, peering though his glasses.

"Well, I know what your first question is, she died between 10 and 11 at night. She died from asphyxiation first." The doctor pointed to bruises that looked like finger marks around her throat.

"Strangulation? I thought she died from a broken neck?" Warrick leaned down to get a closer looked at the bluish marks around the victim's throat. "Wasn't your first vic strangled?"

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, then his windpipe was crushed by a barbell to make it appear like an accident."

Doc Robbins pulled out an x-ray and slapped it up on a lightbox. "Your victim was strangled and then had her neck snapped at the third vertebrae." The older man pointed to the damaged bone. "I'm not sure if your suspect wasn't just making sure she was dead, or he was experiencing a surge of violence."

"Like he was so caught up in the rage of choking her, that he went a step further," Catherine speculated.

Warrick grimaced. "Wasn't the fact she wasn't breathing enough of a clue for this guy?" He asked, disgusted.

Doc Robbins looked at both criminalists. "Maybe he just enjoys the act of violence."

"Got the tox report?" Catherine inquired, moving on.

"You should get it in the next hour; it's being rushed by Nick's request." The coroner turned his light box off and covered the victim back up with a sheet.

Catherine glanced at her watch. "We should get going. Brass is verifying Michelle Wilson's whereabouts from the Chinese place."

Both CSI's walked out of the morgue, eager to get to the DNA lab to see if the substance from under Nancy's finger nails had been identified. As they rounded a corner they saw Nick Stokes hurrying down the corridor.

"Hold on there, partner." Warrick held out his hands trying to slow his friend down before he plowed right into them.

Nick stopped, looking a bit sheepish about his tardiness. He was sporting a dark sleeved blue shirt and his usual dark colored chinos. His hair was somewhat styled in a hurry. Before he had a chance to rattle off an excuse for being late, Catherine cut him off.

"Why don't you and Warrick go to DNA to see if the fingernail substance has been ID'ed, and I'll catch up with Brass about our search warrant." Catherine wasn't going to mention anything about his lateness, since she knew how tired he'd been when he left for home.

Nick released a breath he had been holding. "Yeah, Okay. Thanks Cath."


He and Warrick entered the DNA lab, ignoring the punk rock that was blasting from the small stereo in the corner. Greg was bent over a microscope. Nick turned the music down so he could talk over it, instantly alerting the wild tech to their presence.

Greg popped his head up. "Whatever you're here for, it's not done. I'm completely backed up from Grissom and Sara's case."

Nick gave the younger man an exasperated sigh, "Come, on G, you haven't gotten to our sample yet? Man, you're slipping."

"You can insult me all you want. I've got like thirty samples ahead of yours, and I'm being nice by trying to slip yours in somewhere in the middle."

"Yeah, like when?" Warrick asked.

"If you're real nice, I'd say in a few hours." Greg wandered back to his stereo. "And please don't turn off the Dead Kennedys, this CD is a classic."

"I thought Grissom had a rule against punk rock?" Warrick asked, knowing the tech would understand the underlying threat.

"Maybe I'll run your samples 'very' soon," Greg replied quickly, turning the music up again.

Warrick suppressed a grin. "Yeah, I thought so."

Both criminalists exited the lab only to run into Catherine again. She looked triumphant, holding her hands behind her back. "Pick a hand, each of you."

Jim Brass was right behind, allowing a slight smirk to warm his normally bland expression.

Nick and Warrick exchanged bemused glances, each not sure about this situation. Nick stepped up first. "I'll take whatever is behind curtain number one, or your right hand."

Catherine brought over her hand in a flourish, waving a warrant in front of his face. "Got a general warrant to search the gym top to bottom based on the pattern of drug use in each victim."

Warrick sighed dramatically. "Well than, I guess I get door number two, Bob."

Catherine slid a typed lab report into his hand. "Tox screen back on Nancy Wilson, also positive for steroids. She had a little less, about 500 milligrams, but it's still way over the limit."

Nick snorted, "Yeah, fifty times. What are these people doing over there? They each trying to become King Kong?"

Warrick scanned the report. "Better question is, who's providing this stuff for them?"

Jim Brass chimed in. "And if Nancy Brookes was using, was she coming over here to spill the beans on the operation?"

"All good questions gentlemen; let's head over there and find out." Catherine reigned in her troops and they all headed to the parking lot to inspect the gym.


The trio of CSI's waited outside as Jim Brass cut away the crime scene tape that sealed the doors closed. The private club had been shut down quickly, so the team hoped that the staff was ushered out so that incriminating items would have been left behind. It also gave them a chance to go over other areas of the club in search for the original crime scenes, since they had determined that the weight room and sauna were dump sites.

Catherine had split the club into sections. She would take Michelle Wilson and Roger Sikes' offices. Warrick would canvass the employee break room, locker room and Nick would inspect the physical therapy room and pool area. The main work out rooms that held classes and yoga areas were ruled out, since hours before the time of death each area was occupied with multiple exercise enthusiasts.

Jim Brass decided to stick around to help out in any way he could since the criminalists had to cover so much ground in the gym. He was glad that he wasn't involved in the Sheriff's pet project case, but this crime scene was going to be a doozy to go over. They'd be lucky if they completed their search by the end of their regular shift, and it was already going to be another double by the looks of things.

Nick walked through the weight room where Walter Davis had been found and entered the physical therapy room. It was located at the back of the gym, away from all the main work out areas. Nick put his kit down and scanned the room. There were a couple of massage beds to the left where one went to get stiff muscles loosened. To the right was a whirlpool, and row of lockers were flush against the wall across from it. Then past the lockers was a door to a hallway that he thought led outside, and in the corner were mats and several weights used in therapy to strengthen muscles.

Nick had been in one of these rooms before several times during high school, and in college when he had torn muscles or sprained one thing or another. It smelled like antiseptic and the room was too bright from the strong lights overhead. He decided he'd check out the lockers first to see what might be lurking inside, since he had been given a string of keys belonging to this room. The lockers were usually set aside for visitors, and not for staff, but it would help narrow their scope. He was pretty sure they were dealing with an inside job, but there was still a chance that a regular visitor was involved... given the fact that one of the victims had been a member and had died under mysterious circumstances.

Nick slipped on a pair of latex gloves and set about opening the first locker at the beginning of the row. It opened to reveal a set of white towels, some ace bandages and a pair sweat pants. He rummaged though them, searching for prescription bottles or anything out of the ordinary. The locker smelled musky, and even though he had endured much more vicious odors before, it was not settling well with his stomach. Even though he had caught over five hours sleep, it was too little too late and he felt terrible. He stifled a yawn and wished he had eaten a little more than a frozen waffle for his breakfast. His energy level was beyond fumes, but he'd find a way to stay clear minded, he always did. Sleep deprivation was part of the job sometimes, and he'd find a way to catch the even the smallest details and put this puzzle together.

He continued to open each locker, using his light to illuminate the darkened areas. It was quiet in the room, the only noise coming from the sound of the swirling water from the whirlpool. The soft buzzing sound seemed to be lulling Nick into a zone as each locker brought him closer to the source. He opened the last locker, which looked like a bomb had went off in it. There were magazines piled high on one shelf, and tons of dirty towels piled down at the bottom. There was a mirror that had several cracks in it, from what appeared to be the impact of a fist. Nick clicked his jaw thoughtfully; he had smashed in a few mirrors in his time.

It wasn't always the brightest idea, but it certainly blew off steam when your temper was at a boiling point. He recalled a few cases when the bloody and lifeless faces of so many victims had gotten to him. This was a frustrating job; sometimes the evidence didn't point you in the right direction and you had to mull over its meaning. Nick knelt down to dig deeper into the mess of towels. The locker door's shadow cast the interior into darkness, and Nick held onto the side of the door with his right hand while he sifted though the laundry with his light in his left hand. As he used his flashlight to cast its rays inside, he felt the metal hit something.

Nick switched the light into his right hand and picked up a gallon sized zip lock bag filled to the brim with pills. For the first time that day he allowed himself a wide smile. He could lift prints easily from plastic. He held in his hand the first very real break in the case. He glanced down at the two way radio clipped to his belt, carefully set the bag down, and was about to grab it to alert the others to his findings when felt a tight grip on his shoulder.

Before he could react he felt himself driven inside the locker, his forehead connecting hard with the metal interior with a sickening 'crack'. Nick's vision grayed out and the radio dropped from his hand, clattering down on the tile floor. Two hands now gripped both of his shoulders, yanked him out of the locker, then one hand repositioned itself in his shirt collar before he was rammed into the door of the next locker. He hadn't even had a chance to stand, as he was still in a somewhat crouched position, and no way in control of his legs at the moment. His forehead was slammed against the locker door again, his head exploding in pain.

Still stunned and reeling from the blows to his head, he was easily manhandled to the right, and literally forced to stumble wherever his assailant was forcing him to go. Nick was only on his feet for the briefest of moments as he was pushed towards the whirlpool. He almost fell before reaching the tub, and he was pulled up by his shirt, his attacker remaining behind him, hidden from view.

Nick was shoved forward till his legs and waist collided with the edge of the whirlpool. Realization of what was happening seeped into his fuzzy mind. With his free right hand, he reached down for his gun holstered to his belt, but as his fingers touched the handle, his arm was quickly yanked behind his back. His assailant had a tight grip on his right wrist, and it was being pulled high and pinned somewhere between his shoulder blades.

He yelped as if felt like his arm was popped out of his socket. His left hand was gripping the side of the tub as the attacker was trying to plunge him into the water. He was being overpowered, and his head was still pounding from a concussion, blood dripping down his face from multiple contusions caused by the locker's vents. It was a wonder he was still conscious. Knowing what was going to happen, Nick did the only thing left in his power, he screamed for help.

TBC...


Author's notes: I'm overwhelmed by the postive response for this story. Thank you for all the nice feedback. Sorry for where this part has left you guys. I'm evil I know. Good things come to those who wait though, but honestly, the next chapter would be too long if I did not stop the action where it was.

P.L. Wynter-

I'd always planned on bringing Warrick in this story. I can't resist scenes between him and Nick. Greg as you know is a favorite and he plays a role in this story as well. You must have ESP :-)

sabrina

Thanks for all the nice comments. Glad you liked Walk in the Woods. This is nothing mysterious wrong with Nick, however, under extreme stress and pressure and less than three hours of sleep for almost a week, while working 12+ hours, can cause one to become unhealthy if they don't take care of themselves properly, or get enough rest. I think he has more problems to deal with as a result however :-)

jewelbaby

This is not a shipper. I mentioned in the chapter one that this was friendship story. I would not mind writing some romance in the future however.

mudhousejunkie

You are very sweet. Thank you for the encouragement, its nice to see that others are excited about something you plotted way at for over a month.

rozzy07

You truely compliment me with such kind words. Thank you very much. I'm glad you like the pace, it was something of a focus of mine. And the tension is cranked up yet another notch. I'm writing...actualy another story since this one is complete. Ha! Just letting people catch up on chapters.

Designation

Hehe, yeah Sikes is quite an ass. Michelle isn't far behind..snicker. Hey, hope this was fast enough for you. Thank you as always.

ner

I agree, with you. Never enough Nick screen time. Thanks to my DVDS, I get a good fix. The future chapters will contain a decent amount of high emotion, just you wait. Thank you for you kindness.

c1

Yeah, I hope the reader catche on, how really tired both our CSIs really are. For science geeks, they sure don't pay attention to thier personal surroundings. Thank you thank you for you feedback. Glad you're having a fun reading.