After an hour and a half, Greg and Nick decided to take a break. With all the evidence they had accumulated, it was strange how they just couldn't convict this guy. He wouldn't confess, which made it harder. Greg took in a deep breath and glanced to Grissom's office, Candi and him had been in there for a while.
"I guess catching up on twenty years of your life takes a while," Nick commented, as if he'd read Greg's mind. Greg nodded and as they entered the coffee room down the hall, they heard Grissom's door slam.
"Candi, wait!" Grissom called.
"Why should I?" she shouted. "Mom was right about you! All you care about is your work!" Greg watched as she stormed by them. Nick glanced to him.
"You take her, I'll talk to Grissom." Greg stared at his friend.
"Do you know what she's like when she's angry?" he asked. He knew Candi had an awful temper and speaking to her when she was angry was like trying to get blood from a stone.
"Then I'll talk to her and you take Grissom." Greg continued to stare at his co-worker. He shook his head and took a few steps back.
"I'll go find her," he said as he turned around. He heard Nick laughing behind him. When he caught up with Candi, she was seated on a bench outside. "What happened in there?" he asked breathlessly. She looked up to him and he noticed her eyes were tearstained. "Oh Candi," he said as he took a seat next to her. Wrapping his arms around her he took in a deep breath. "Are you OK?" She tore away from him and shook her head.
"My mother as right about him. All he thinks about is his work, he obviously didn't care enough about me to try and contact me or even talk about me." Greg shook his head.
"No… no… no…" he said quietly. "That's not it, Grissom's a wonderful guy and he probably missed you very much. It's probably painful for him too." More tears ran down her cheeks.
"This was a waste of time, maybe I'll go back to New York. I'm sure me and Mac can work things out," she murmured as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Greg shook his head againa nd placed his hands gently on her shoulders.
"Don't leave Candi. The time you've been out here has been great. Before I met you I was a lost, lonely man. You've changed my life and now you've changed Grissom's. Just give him a chance. You'll see." She glanced over to meet his gaze.
"Really?" she whispered. He smiled.
"Of course. Besides, you've made a nice life for yourself out here. You have a nice little apartment, a great job and the cutest little Pug." A smile formed on her quivering lips.
"I guess you're right; and if I left I'd have to start all over again in New York." He nodded.
"Yah," he took her hand and pulled her up. "Now come on, let's go find Grissom and try to talk again."
After a useless search, Nick found Grissom in his office. This baffled him because he swore he'd seen him go in the other direction. His boss was seated at his desk staring at the file for the current case.
"You know Lucas Harper was convicted of attempted murder eight years ago?" he said. Nick stared at him.
"How can you be thinking of Lucas Harper at a time like this?" he asked. Grissom closed the file and sat up straight.
"Because it's my job and if we don't wrap this up soon we'll lose him." Nick groaned and took a seat in front of the desk.
"You know, some things are more important than that," he said as he crossed his legs. "Like the love and respect of the daughter you never knew." Grissom stared at his friend.
"Since when is this any of your business?" he asked. Nick uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.
"Since it involves my friends. Candi is Greg's girlfriend, Greg is my friend and Candi is your daughter. I think I reserve some right to stick my nose in here," he said sharply. Grissom sighed.
"You're right, but what am I supposed to do? Things were great in my life before now; but she is my daughter and I should get to know her. I don't know her though, I never spoke of her because I was ashamed what I did back then. Now she's back in my life and I feel like I need to be a father all over again. A responsibility I couldn't do twenty years ago, and I'm not capable of doing now," he pointed out. Nick shook his head and rose to his feet.
"You don't need to be her father, but you can be her friend," he said as he backed toward the door. "Think about that." Without another word, he left. In the hallway, he ran into Greg and Candi. She appeared a bit happier but he could still see anger in her eyes.
"Maybe you should try again," he said to her. "There's more to Grissom than he lets on." She nodded and looked to Grissom's office. Quickly she glanced to Greg.
"You get back to work, I think I can handle this." Once she disappeared into the office, Nick and Greg headed back to the lab. On the way there, they ran into Warrick.
"Hey guys, who was that?" he asked as he pointed to Grissom's office.
"Candi," Nick replied. Warrick looked to Greg and smiled.
"The Candi? The one you haven't shut up about?" he laughed. Greg nodded.
"Very funny, and yes, as a matter of fact it is."
"So, what's she doing in Grissom's office?" he asked as he followed the boys to the lab. He was working a different case, trying to catch a serial rapist than was unpredictable.
"He's her father," Nick replied, he waited for a response. After a few short moments, Warrick dropped his coffee.
"Father? Whoa, Whoa… Grissom has a kid? How come I never knew about this?" Nick laughed.
"Cause no one did, until tonight."
"Not even Greg?" he looked to his co-worker. Greg rolled his eyes.
"Would everyone please stop saying that? Sure, I didn't know. But I also felt it was none of my business. Not unless she wanted to tell me. Now leave it alone, ok?" Warrick nodded and glanced to the clothes that were spread over the table.
"Getting anywhere?" he asked. Nick shook his head.
"No," he looked to the coffee puddle on the floor. "But you'd better mop that up before Grissom sees it." Warrick grunted and headed out of the lab then Nick and Greg returned to processing the evidence.
