Chapter 4

(A/N- whoo! chapter 4! Still looking for a Beta...but just a note, this story takes place in 2004. So it's almost Xmas 04. It just makes everything a bit more believable.)

"This is a bit long, but it's very important. You see, when I was little, my life was kinda complicated." Ahmaryllis took a long, shaky breath and continued.

"I was born in Germany. My parents weren't German, but they were on the run from some people. Dad was from Colombia and Mom was raised in Italy. She was adopted and didn't know her heritage and she didn't know who her real parents were. Mom said that Bruce and Marco were happy to have a little sister. They would walk around the neightbourhood with me in the carriage and announce that I was their little sister..." Ahmaryllis' eyes misted and she made a little half-smile, thinking of the past.

"I'm actually not nineteen, and my birthday isn't tomorrow. It's March 18. March 18 1982. Mom and Dad protected us from them...but they caught up in the end."

Nick exchanged glances with Catherine. Ahmaryllis was far from nineteen, she was almost twenty-three! The girl-or woman- was hiding alot of secrets.

"Ahmaryllis," Nick said gently, "Can you tell us everything, from the beginning?"

Ahmaryllis chuckled humourlessly. "From Adam and Eve, or from just before I was born? Alright, I'll tell you. Apparantly my parents did something to piss off a big gang in Italy. The gang said that they would kill my mom and dad. So they ran. Bruce, my older brother by, what is it? 6 years? Older by six years and a bit. He was born in Poland. They hid out there for a year until the gang caught up with them. So they ran to different countries for the next year or so. Then they had to stay low in a country for a couple of months. You see, Mom was pregnant again. Marco was born in some little hospital in Portugal. He almost died when he was a couple weeks old. Dad had set out a fake trail so the gang as looking all over the countries by the Mediteranean Sea."

"When Bruce was 3 and Marco just under a year, they were in Switzerland. They had been living there for a year, ever since Marco was born. My family was asleep in their home when the gang broke in. They almost killed Marco and Bruce ended up with a broken arm, nose and cheekbone. Mom and Dad fought them off and ran into the night. They decided that it wasn't safe any longer in Europe and moved to America. They adopted the name Smial and kept it wherever they went. Before I was born, they moved to about 4 different states. Then Mom got pregnant and had me in Missuori. After that, we only moved twice more. Bruce still had the scars from his face injuries and Marco, hearing about his near-death experiences, protected me with Bruce. They were my two best friends. We did everything together. I don't think anyone, even Mom and Dad, were closer than those two." she fell silent and smiled sadly, wishing for her two brothers to be back with her.

"Ahmaryllis, can you tell us exactly which countries and states your parents were in?" Catherine asked. Ahmaryllis nodded.

"I know most of them. They're Italy, Poland, Potugal, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Russia, Greece, Germany and I think Czech Slovakia. There might be another one. There was also Missuori, Nevada, Montana, Iowa, New York and..." Ahmaryllis though for a second. "North Dakota. I can't tell you the cities. I don't remember."

"Can you tell us the birthdates of your brothers?" Nick calmly asked.

"Bruce was born on September 27 1975. He would've just turned 29. Marco was born April 3, 1978. He was 26 years old."

"Ahmaryllis, your birth certificate says that you're only 19. Care to explain?" Nick asked.

"You wouldn't really think that after years on the run, that my parents would put real information on our birth certificates from country to country? No, they gradually got us to play the part of younger children. I started school a year later than everyone else so when they were 4, I was 5. I skipped a year of school between moving states so I was two years ahead of everyone else.The same happened twice more. So I ended up being 4 years older than everyone in my class. Bruce played the part of a boy three years younger and Marco played a boy a year older then himself. My parents were smart people Mr. Stokes. They knew how to survive."

"Ahmaryllis," Catherine said tentatively, "There were four bodies at the crime scene." Ahmaryllis' face hardened but her eyes began watering. "We just got some information about the fourth body, the one we thought was Bruce." Ahmaryllis lifted a tear-stained face to Catherine. "The body wasn't Bruce's. It was one of the gang members. We don't know where Bruce is or if he is alive or not." There was a horrible, horrible silence in the room. Ahmaryllis was totally blank.

"Bruce isn't..." she trailed off. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times. She was slowly registering the fact that one of her best friends may still be alive. Then reality hit.

She began crying for joy. She was laughing and shouting, but tears were running down her face. They were tears for Marco, who now lay in the morgue. But they were also for Bruce, who might be alive and healthy somewhere in Las Vegas. "Thank you!" She shouted. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She ran from the room in the direction of the DNA lab, over the moon with joy. In her wake she left two shocked CSI's. CSI's with answers that could now start to piece together a puzzle.

"Greg!" Ahmaryllis cried. The lab tech turned around and was smothered by Ahmaryllis' hug. "He's alive! Greg, he's alive! Isn't it wonderful? He's still alive!" Greg was taken aback. This was the same girl who was scared to touch any male. Now she was hugging him? The issue of her rape story would be solved later...

"Ahmaryllis, who is alive? What happened?" Greg asked.

"Bruce! My brother! They thought he was dead but it was really a gang member and now Bruce is still alive and he could come for me! I'm so happy, Greg." she wiped tears away from her eyes.

"That's wonderful, Ahmy..."

A receptionist appeared at the doorway. "Ms. Smial? There's someone at the front who would like to see you." Ahmaryllis looked at Greg. Eyes shining brightly, she began to walk towards the front of the building.

(A/N-Who could it be? Is it Bruce? Or is it someone else? Only I know the answers...mwuahahaha. And you may have noticed Greg's nickname for Ahmaryllis, just though I'd add that. I'm in a lovey-dovey mood)