Chapter 13

"Nicky! Get out of my Way!" A very angry Warrick demanded.

"Sorry bro, I can't let you leave." Nick stood barring the way. Warrick glared at him, nostrils flaring as Nick added. "Grissom doesn't want you out on this case. I'm here to keep you out of trouble."

"You will be the one in trouble if you don't get out of my way." Warrick threatened. Seeing that Nick wasn't budging ,he added. "Damn it Nicky. I don't want to hurt you….but I will if you don't get out of my way."

"Warrick, I can't." Nick winced, seeing his friend balling up his fists, preparing to fight him. "Geez, Warrick! It's for your own good. You've already attacked a suspect in this case. You punched Ecklie! That almost ended your career!"

"I don't care about my career right now." Warrick growled. "I want this ended! Now! It's been days since my daughter has been out playing with friends in the sunshine. She's already had a crappy life, she doesn't deserve to be holed up in this place, fearful of her life! I want this over!" Warrick reached up, gathering the front of Nick's shirt in his fist, he added silkily. "I'm going out now, whether Grissom or you think I should or not."

Nick let out a sigh, studying his friend for a moment. He knew he'd never be able to actually fight Warrick. Although he knew some claimed that Warrick had softened since marrying Gemma, he knew that it wasn't true. Warrick would kick his butt in no time flat. "How about I accompany you?"

Warrick gave him a relieved smile. "Yeah, Bro…..I'd like that."

"You gonna be cool?" Nick eyed the man's tired, stressed face.

"Yeah." Warrick stood up taller. His grin was self-assured, "I'm always cool."

"Yeah." Nick laughed. "Of course you are……..Just so you know…….I'm in charge out there today."

"Yeah…..picture that!" Warrick snorted as Nick unlocked the door.

Hand on the doorknob, Nick turned and looked at his friend. "I can have you arrested. Your butt could be sitting in a jail cell until this is over." He threatened softly so that Warrick knew he wasn't joking. "I'm in charge today."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious Rick." Nick insisted. "It's my butt in the ringer if you screw up."

"I could hit you right now. Leave you lying on the floor taking a nighty-night. It wouldn't be your responsibility anymore." Warrick offered.

"I think I'll pass." Nick opened the door, knowing Warrick wasn't going to back down. This way, at least he'd be around to jump into the fray.

"Hi, David. Where's the Doc?" Sara greeted the man who was examining something Sara didn't want to know about.

"Hi Sara. He's in the back. Paperwork, I think." David looked up with a smile. He watched the two women walk through to the office. Two beautiful women, alive and well, in the morgue was a rare occasion, he didn't want to waste a moment of the vision.

Sara knocked a short rap and opened the door. "Doc? Got a moment?"

"Sure Sara, come on in." He welcomed her, rising to greet her. He looked questioningly at her companion. "New recruit?"

"No, this is…..a friend. Lucy Malone. She's the reason we're here."

"Oh?" Doc leaned forward offering his hand. "Al Robbins."

"Nice to meet you." Lucy clasped his hand, immediately assaulted by images. They flooded through her until she broke the contact and dropped herself into a chair.

"Are you okay?" Doc stepped forward, concerned.

"Don't touch me!" Lucy put up her hands as if to shield herself from him.

"Lucy?" Sara knelt beside her. "What's going on."

"That's never happened to me. It was like thousands of images were bombarding me all at once." Lucy explained, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Debra's?"

"I don't know. It could have been hers too." Lucy looked pointedly at the door that led to the morgue. "There were so many……I couldn't see any of them."

"Sara?" Al cut in, "What is this all about?"

"Lucy has been in contact with Debra Jo-"Sara began to explain.

"Debbie?" Al interrupted. "What do you mean? Like visions or something?"

"Yes, she came to visit me after her death. Wanted me to help rescue the girls." Lucy had successfully pushed aside the images that had crowded her mind. "I know it's hard to believe….but, it's true."

"It's not hard to believe. In my line of work, you have to believe that there's something else afterward." Al pulled up a chair and sat close to her. "Debbie's father was my friend. I knew Debbie well. You came here, hoping to get another vision from her?"

"Yes, but…..there's too many." Lucy looked sadly at the door again. "I didn't think about you being in contact with so many….."

"We're stuck, Doc." Sara added softly. "We're grasping at straws."

Greg Sanders was not grasping at straws. He and Gil Grissom were pounding there heads against a brick wall once again. That brick wall was named Jillian Holcomb.

The woman would not budge. She simply refused to say a word about where her children were. She knew where they were. Gil knew she knew. Greg knew she knew. Even her lawyer knew she knew where they were. She simply refused to tell where they were. They had her, whether she told where they were or not. She just didn't care. As he realized this, Greg hated the woman. She didn't care about her children.

"We're done here." Jim growled.

"Come on Greg." Gil placed a supportive hand on the man's shoulder. "Let's go." Greg was silent as they filed out of the room. In the hallway he exploded.

"That woman is a witch! She doesn't give a crap about her kids!" He yelled, filled with anger, he went over to the wall and pounded his fist. He had succeeded in bruising his fist before the others pulled him away from the wall. "They're her own flesh and blood."

"People are sick." Gil shrugged. "We can't let her get to us. We still have Carrey. You'll get him first thing in the morning."

"Yeah, but will we find the girls in time?" Greg questioned.

"Don't give up on them." Gil admonished. "We're all they have."

"I thought you were supposed to keep him chained up?" Hodges asked dryly as Nick and Warrick entered his lab.

"Yeah, Picture that." Nick did his best Warrick impersonation, causing Warrick to grin sheepishly and Hodges to laugh aloud.

"Where's Sara?" Warrick questioned.

"Umm, she took your redheaded friend to the morgue." Hodges shrugged, turning back to his work.

"The morgue?" Nick and Warrick repeated at the same time."

"Relax Stokes, she wasn't dead." Hodges smirked. "They were going to see Robbins."