Title: Good Enough
Chapter 13
*****
Sara's sitting across from me, her head resting in her hand. "You're in a good mood," she says.
I glance up, grinning like an idiot. "Maybe I am."
"What gives?" She asks.
My relationship with Greg is one day old, but so far, so good. Real good. I'm not exactly ready to advertise this thing with Greg and me, though. I have serious reservations about how Warrick, Grissom, Brass, and Sara are gonna take it.
Shrugging, I smile, "I just worked some stuff out,"
Sara takes my hand. "You know, you had me pretty scared."
"Sara, I'm sorry. What I said to Grissom I said in anger. I didn't mean it."
She brushes a strand of hair over her shoulder. "Not even a little?"
Licking my lips, I say, "Maybe a little. But listen, I want you to know that I don't have a death wish. I'm not that far gone."
"If you get that far gone . . ."
"I'll talk to someone."
Just then, Grissom walks in. He stops in the middle of the room and gazes at me like he's waiting to find out if I'm going to explode or something. Finally, he takes a seat next to Sara. "What've we got?"
Sara and I are rereading the personal information on all the major players in Danny Kincaid's life. Or in the case of the Ames', we're going over it for the first time.
"Well," I say. "All the kids are stellar students. Mostly honors and college prep classes. Kincaid, Briers, and Cooper were all involved in extracurricular activities, but Natalie Ames pretty much just shows up for class."
Grissom nods and gets a far off look in his eyes. "Any serious behavioral issues?"
"Other than what we already know about Kincaid, no. None of them are problem kids. Natalie Ames' English teacher said she's been depressed and withdrawn, though."
"Here's something," Sara says.
"What?" Grissom asks.
Sara looks up, a smile plastered on her face. "Cody Briers mom . . . her maiden name is Ames. She's Garret Ames' sister."
*****
Grissom and I decide to pay the former Susan Ames, now Susan Briers, a visit. We arrive just in time to see the front door opening, and Garret Ames storming out of it.
"You're blind!" he yells at Susan Briers, who follows him out the door.
"Don't you tell me how to raise my children, Gary!" Mrs. Briers yells. "Don't you dare!"
Ames spins around. "I'm just telling you to listen to him! Or is that too hard?"
Mrs. Briers points crosses her arms fiercely. "At least my child isn't a freak!"
Ames' jaw tightens, and his whole body becomes rigid. Turning on his heel, he says, "Bite me."
He thunders down the walk and runs right into me. When he realizes who I am, he says, "Are you stalking me?"
"We're here to see your sister, actually," Grissom says. He sounds a bit pleased with himself.
Susan Ames swoops down the walk and stops next to her brother. "I have to leave soon," she says. "They're going to let me see Cody."
I notice Garret Ames roll his eyes.
"Well," Grissom says. "I'll try not to take much of your time." Then he turns to me. "Nicky, you wait out here."
He wants me to talk to Ames, apparently. I don't think I'm much higher on Ames' Christmas list that Grissom is, but I'll have a try.
"So," I say to Ames. "We weren't aware that you and Mrs. Briers were related."
"Well, we're not close," Ames says. "I'm the family freak."
Grinning, I say, "I know the feeling. I'm one of seven kids. Mostly doctors and lawyers. My mom keeps calling to tell me how well my sisters and brother are doing, and how she hopes I figure out what I want to do with my life." Laughing, I shake my head.
Ames smiles. "My parents went nuts when I got married at eighteen. They were hoping I'd follow my dad into the law practice. Can you see me as a lawyer?"
I laugh. Then I say, "Sir, I'm sorry about yesterday."
He bites his bottom lip and nods. "Ah," he says. "I was over the top. I felt as though I was being put the defensive."
"We could've handled things better."
Ames starts pacing along the sidewalk. "Natalie was watching her brother the night Danny was killed. I work evenings, and she takes of Logan. I mean, he's thirteen, but she doesn't leave him by himself."
"Yes, sir." I cross my arms. "How well did you know Danny Kincaid?"
He shrugs. "Danny and
Cody were friends since they were tiny.
Nat used to hang around with them."
"When did that change?"
"When they were freshmen. They were into
different things."
"Does it surprise you that Natalie was dating Danny?"
He nods. "I never would've allowed it, and she knows that."
"Why not?"
"Because he was drinking. He was violent. People can say what they want, but he had a temper. He gave Cody five stitches a couple months ago."
"How did that happen?" I ask.
Ames shoves his hands into his pockets. "I don't know the whole story. Cody called me one day and asked me to pick him up from a free clinic downtown. He didn't want his parents to know what happened. I asked him what went down, and he told me that he and Danny had a fight, and Danny'd been drinking. And Danny hit him."
"Was this an isolated incident?"
"With Cody maybe. But I'm sure sweet, porcelain
Molly Cooper had been knocked around a little."
That would throw a new ingredient into the pot. We haven't been looking at Molly Cooper as a suspect at all.
Over Ames' shoulder, I see the Briers' front door burst open. Grissom bounds cheerfully down the steps followed by an irritated looking Mrs. Briers.
"Ready to go, Nicky?" Grissom asks.
I hold out my hand to Mr. Ames. "Sir."
Ames regards me hand for a few moments, and then he grasps it tightly. "Mr. Stokes."
I nod at Mrs. Briers, who scowls back, and then I round the car to passenger side.