Note: Here's a new chapter. A few more clues, a few more questions. I've finally got a clear idea where this story is taking me...so hopefully I can update a little more quickly. Look for chapter seven sometime late tomorrow night or even Thursday. Thanks again for the reviews!
"Nick!" Warrick called from across the break room. He must have fallen asleep. What time was it anyway? "Man, you okay?" his partner asked taking a seat next to the CSI on the couch.
"Yeah," he nodded rubbing his eyes. It was almost midnight. He'd planned to sit down for only a minute. He had no intentions of sleeping for nearly an hour.
"When's the last time you slept man?" Warrick asked taking a sip of his own coffee.
"Uh, yesterday sometime, I guess," Nick shrugged. His coffee had long since turned cold. He stood to refill his cup. "What did you get from the Shroll kid?"
"Not a lot," Warrick shook his head. "He was pretty out of it. Brass is gonna head back over there in the morning and get an official statement. He did tell us that somebody hit him from behind. When he woke up he was tied up in the shed."
"You're right, it's not much," Nick sighed taking a seat back on the couch. "I still need to process the Suburban. You game?"
"Wouldn't be fair to make you do it alone," Warrick nodded as Greg entered the room.
"Hey guys," he smiled. "Man, Nick, who ran you over?" he laughed taking up residence in the nearest chair.
"Shut up," Nick said leaning he head on the back of the couch. "I've been on since last night, man."
"So your case is that bad, huh?"
"Man, I haven't slept in 36 hours. I have a pile of evidence with no real answers. I have a kid in the hospital who could be my only viable witness, and he's not up to talking yet. Yes, the case is that bad."
"If it makes you feel any better, Mia sent me to find you. She said she had something for you to see," the young CSI grinned with a raised eyebrow. "Warrick, you on the same case?"
"I am now," he nodded watching Nick stand up. "Hey Nicky, I'll meet you at the garage in ten minutes. I'm gonna go talk to Grissom for a sec."
"Copy that," he said as he left the break room. Maybe if he kept moving he could break from shift early tonight, or this morning as his watch served as a constant reminder of his place in the space time continuum. He could have sworn at one point the second hand actually ticked backwards. He was too tired.
"Hey Nick," Mia said looking up as the man entered the DNA lab.
"What have you got for me?" he asked.
"You'll like this," she smiled handing him another file. "The blood drops you collected from Lake Mead, don't match the Shroll kid," she started as Nick took a look at the papers.
"They came back unknown," he frowned. "What's to like about that?"
"I'm getting there. Your blood drops match the DNA from the sunflower seeds and the skateboard wheel, they're all still unknown. Your killer is bleeding," she smiled.
"All right," he nodded closing the file folder. "You've redeemed yourself," he smiled leaving the lab. He quickly dropped the file off with Grissom, explained the findings and then headed to the garage.
"You ready for this?" Warrick asked walking into the garage as Nick zipped up his coveralls.
"Let's do this," he nodded. Pulling on latex gloves and whipping out their respective flashlights, the men set to processing the SUV.
It was an arduous process. Each man covered every square inch of the vehicles interior. Nick covered the front seats, emptying the glove box of any possibly relevant materials, mainly the registration papers and repair receipts. He placed each piece of paper in its own evidence bag.
"Found it!" Nick called from the driver's seat directing the UV light on the floor mats.
"What's that?" Warrick responded from the back seat.
"Hairs. I found some on the head rest too. Could belong to our killer."
"Assuming our killer is also our kidnapper," Warrick nodded.
"You ready for me to fume this puppy?" Nick asked placing the hairs in an envelope.
"Yeah, I got some gray fibers back here. Could be from our victim's sweatshirt," Warrick nodded placing his own evidence in a spindle. "Let's superglue her!"
Warrick closed all the doors while Nick positioned the fume wand in the center console.
"All right," Nick nodded closing the driver side door and allowing the fumes to accumulate within the car. It took nearly thirty minutes for the fumes to build up and die down enough for the men to resume their work.
"Let's take a look," Warrick nodded noticing the clearing air within the vehicle.
The men returned to the inside of the vehicle, using their flashlights to illuminate any possible fingerprints.
"I've got some smudges on the steering wheel," Nick shook his head. "Wait a second, I think I've got a decent partial here," he said. A smile tickled the corners of his mouth as he pulled out a tape lift.
"I've got a partial over here," Warrick nodded from the passenger side. "We may be looking for two people."
"Check out the gear shift," Nick smiled shining his light on the stick. It was something he'd missed before they fumed for prints.
"Whoa, what the hell is that?" he asked noticing a foreign substance on the gear shift. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Maybe," Nick grinned as he pulled out the UV light and shone it on the stick shift. "Oh yeah," he laughed, almost triumphantly, "We've got seminal fluid. Something besides a kidnapping was going down in this car."
"I'll say," Warrick said as he pulled out a cotton swab and took a sample for DNA.
The two CSIs spent another hour processing the interior of the car. Satisfied with what they found, the shut the doors. They were now ready to begin processing the exterior of the Suburban. Nick started running the fingerprints through AFIS as Warrick rigged the Suburban to be lifted off the ground.
"All right, let's get those tread marks," Nick said clapping his gloved hands as he returned to the garage.
The two CSIs busied themselves by slathering each tire in petroleum jelly. It was the most effective way to get a good tire tread. Another hour had passed before they were ready to lower the vehicle onto the print paper. As Warrick lowered the vehicle, Nick reached in and shifted the car into neutral. Once the car was rolled forward, giving them a decent tread mark, Warrick poured the black printing powder over the paper. This not only made the tread more visible, but made it permanent on the paper.
"Looks like we've got a match to the treads I picked up from the scene," Nick grinned as he compared the crime scene photos to the newly made treads.
"That mark you noticed earlier is from a nail," Warrick pointed out. "The tires are designed to withstand a nail puncture without deflating for a good hundred miles. This tire hasn't even begun to lose pressure."
"It's a good tire," Nick nodded.
"I'll say," Warrick snickered. "I'll get Brass to track down this Dave Eubanks and bring him in. What do you wanna bet he's reported his car stolen?" Warrick smirked.
"Ah man, don't say that. With the way this case has been going," Nick grimaced. "I can't use too many more curve balls. I'm running the prints right now. I'll go sit on the computer; hopefully AFIS will pop something out for us. I put a rush on those hairs and fibers we found too. Hodges should be able to tell us something within the hour. He'll page me when he's got something," Nick yawned.
"Hey, you recovered the kid's computer right?" Warrick asked removing his gloves and placing them in a plastic bag and labeling them.
"Yeah, I gave it to Archie. I haven't had a chance to get with him yet," Nick nodded doing the same with his own gloves.
"I'll check on that for you," Warrick nodded. "Oh yeah, Grissom wanted an update from you as soon as we finished here. I forgot to tell you."
"Yeah," Nick nodded. "I was gonna head that way anyway. Oh hey, how did that dinner date go?" he asked with a mischievous grin as the two men exited the garage.
"Bro, it sucked," Warrick rolled his eyes. "I took her to a sushi bar and found out she was a vegetarian," he laughed. "I cut it short and made it home in time to see the end of Poker World Series on ESPN," he smiled.
"Serves you right for picking a girl up outside of Circus Circus," Nick laughed as he headed down the hall. He'd make a quick stop to refill his coffee cup before heading to Grissom's office.
The supervisor had been neck deep in evaluations, and budget proposals since noon. He hadn't had time to catch Nick up on the interview with the Parks family. Had he even remembered to tell Nick the autopsy results? What day was it anyway?
Nick quickly filled his coffee mug and made his way to Grissom's office. One last look at his watch reminded him of just how tired he was. It had been a good 40 hours since he'd had a quality sleep. He shook his head, reminding himself to keep focused on the case. It wouldn't be long until all the pieces were connected. If he could hold out another six hours, the case would more than solve itself. If only, he thought as he tapped on Grissom's door and entered the office. If only.