Chapter 8
Alex wasn't sure how long she'd been in her cell. She had been so tired; after they booked her she slept. And whether she had slept for an hour or five, she didn't know. She was only aware she was being awakened by someone calling her name.
"Alex," he said.
"Go away," she replied, not even trying to recognize the voice. She couldn't see who it was as she was sleeping on her side, facing the wall. Moreover, she didn't care who it was; she didn't want to talk to anyone.
"Alex, please talk to me. I want to apologize." It was Greg.
She slowly turned over and looked at him. She noticed he looked tired and slightly disheveled. "So now you want to apologize?" she snidely remarked.
He sighed. "I know, I was a jerk," he tried to explain.
She swung her legs over the bed and stood up. She walked over the cell bars so she could look him in the eye. "Damn right you were a jerk," she said to his face. "Among other things."
"I'm sorry," he replied.
"Whatever," she responded, turning her back to him. "You're probably glad I'm in here. You think I did it."
"Alex, I don't think you killed two people," Greg tried to assure her.
She spun around quickly and looked at him, her jaw hanging open. "What?"
"I said, I don't think you killed two—" he started to repeat himself.
"Two people?" She was incredulous. "What second person?"
Now it was Greg's turn to be stunned. "They didn't tell you about the second woman they found?"
Alex felt like she was about to faint. She walked over to the bed and sat down. She placed her head in her hands. It was like some bad nightmare.
"Alex?" Greg sounded concerned.
"Just leave me alone," she told him. She wasn't ready to forgive him and this new information had left her head reeling.
"Come on, Alex," Greg responded. "This is awkward, doing this through…" he made a hand gesture towards the bars.
"Awkward for who? You? You're still free. I'm the one behind them," she replied. Then she looked away and mumbled to herself, "I never should have bumped into you."
"What?" he heard part of her statement. "What about bumping into me?"
She rolled her eyes and then looked straight at him. "I said, 'I never should have bumped into you.'"
He felt a pang in his heart. "Well, accidents happen," he replied, with hurt in his voice.
She let out a laugh that was a good part cry. "It wasn't an accident. I can't believe you still think that." She was trying to be cruel. She too was hurt and angry.
His eyes widened. "What?" The thought had never occurred to him that their meeting was anything more than fate.
"Yeah," she replied, tears starting to run down her cheeks, her voice thick with her mixed emotions. "I saw you when you entered the club. I watched you for a couple hours and how you interacted with your friends. When I figured you were a nice guy, I bumped into you." She paused and then added, "Guess I was wrong."
Her last statement stung. He knew he'd been a jerk earlier, but this was too much. "Yeah, maybe so," he mumbled and then walked out.
Alex sat there, tears still running down her cheeks. She was mad at herself. She'd let her anger get the better of her—again.
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Sometime later Alex stood in the courtroom, lawyerless. She had called a friend from Virginia, but his plane was delayed. She figured she knew enough about the law to handle her own bail hearing and she didn't want to wait another minute to try and get out. But she pretty much figured she wasn't going to get bail anyway.
"How do you plead?" the judge asked from the bench, after being assured she wanted to represent herself for this hearing.
"Not guilty," she replied and then looked around the court, noticing Gil, Catherine and Nick towards the back. She was disappointed Greg wasn't there as well, but what did she expect?
"And how do the people feel about bail?" the judge asked the assistant district attorney, Paul Blakely.
"The people seek remand," Blakely responded. "Ms. Hart is accused of two very brutal murders—"
Alex interrupted, "Your honor, most of their evidence is circumstantial at best. I was in Virginia when Heather James was murdered and don't know anything about the second."
"Your honor," Blakely broke in. "We have DNA evidence. Ms. Hart was the last person to see one of the victims alive. She had a storage until in the facility where the other body was found."
Alex turned and looked in disbelief at Blakely. She couldn't understand where they were getting all this evidence.
Mr. Blakely continued, "She has no ties to the community and substantial assets that make her a flight risk. Bail would simply give her the opportunity to leave."
Catherine and Gil gave each other questioning looks. Neither knew of any assets that Alex had.
"Your honor," Alex addressed the judge. "I have no passport and do have ties to the community. My father is an established member of the community and Mr. Blakely knows that. And as for the assets, I wouldn't be opposed to putting them up for cash bail with just enough left for me to live on for the duration of the trail and pay my lawyer."
"Who's your father?" the judge asked, clearly considering bail.
Alex turned back and looked at Gil with a question in her eyes. He nodded.
"Gil Grissom, your honor," Alex replied.
"From the crime lab?" the judge questioned, surprised.
"Yes, your honor," she responded.
"I wasn't aware he had a daughter," the judge stated. "And how much for bail?"
"Half a million," Alex offered.
Gil, Catherine and Nick all dropped their jaws in unison.
"Your honor, you can't seriously be considering—" Blakely broke in.
The judge held up his hand. "Half a million cash, no bond," the judge stated and banged his gavel.
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By the next evening Alex was out and home. Her friend—and lawyer—Sam Rose, arrived a few hours after her hearing and got the bail taken care of. Her assets had been pretty liquid and were easy to turn in to cash. In fact, most of it was cash.
When Alex's grandmother died, she had a life insurance policy that Alex hadn't known about. Being the only relative, at least the only relative her grandmother spoke with, Alex was the beneficiary. When she found out how much it was, she was floored. Not to mention the profits from the sale of her grandmother's house, which she also found out her grandmother owned outright with no liens. After almost a year, she still hadn't figured out what to do with it and most of it was in accounts at various banks. The rest was in CDs, bonds, and a few short-term investments.
She was glad to be back in her own apartment. She hated jail. She hadn't been there in over a decade and she had hoped she'd never had to go back. However, after discussing her case with Sam, she knew the evidence against was pretty convincing. The only thing she could hope for was that the truth would win out.
She was in the kitchen making a sandwich when there was a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting anyone, so was leery. It seemed that the most recent knocks on her door all brought about bad news.
She looked out the peephole and smiled. Then she opened the door.
"Nick," she greeted him, giving him a quick hug. "What're you doing here?"
"Just checking up on you," he replied as she ushered him in.
"You're not supposed to be here," she scolded him.
He raised an eyebrow.
She let out a sigh. "Gil called and told me Ecklie doesn't want you guys having too much to do with me. Something about making the lab look bad."
Nick rolled his eyes. "Well, Ecklie can just fire me. I'm off the clock; I'll do what I want."
She smiled. "Thanks for standing behind me. I was just making a sandwich, do you want one?"
"Sounds good," he replied, following her into the kitchen.
As finished making her sandwich and started making his, they made some small talk. Both could tell the other was trying to avoid what they really want to talk about. Finally, Nick just couldn't hold his question in anymore.
"So, half a million?" he asked.
She knew the question had been coming. Gil had asked the same thing when they talked. "It's not a big deal, really," she replied.
"Not a big deal?" he smiled.
She returned his smile. "It was an inheritance from my grandmother," she explained.
"So you've had it for a while?" he asked.
She just smiled and handed him his sandwich across the counter.
"I can't believe you're here," she said, changing subjects and taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Why's that?" he questioned.
"Um, let's see. I lied about my past as a drug addict and juvenile delinquent. I attract bad luck. And, oh yeah, I'm being tried for two murders and might spent the rest of my life behind bars!" she told him, letting out a nervous laugh.
He laughed a little too. It was something in her tone that just sounded silly. Then he noticed the change in her demeanor.
He walked around the counter and looked her straight in the eyes. "Alex, you're past is just that, past. In the present, I believe your innocent and will do everything I can to help you. And as for your future," he took her hand in his. "I hope to spend as much of that as possible with you."
Alex felt her cheeks flush with color and a smile creep across her lips. Nick leaned in to kiss her, but she put her hand on his chest stopping him.
"Nick," she softly uttered, putting her head down. "I can't. Not now."
He dropped her other hand and took a step back, dejected. "Sorry," he mumbled, casting his eyes down.
"I mean, not right now," she said.
He looked up at her with a questioning look on his face.
"For the previously mentioned reasons," she started to explain. "And lots of others, I don't want to do this now. My emotions are so mixed up right now. I want to make sure the next time I kiss you it's for the right reasons…not because I'm mad at Greg or need comforting."
Nick was still hurt, but knew she was right. He nodded.
She hated upsetting him and would have loved to have kissed him, but knew it wasn't fair to him. It stirred turmoil in her already rocky emotional state. "I wish they hadn't taken my Valium," she muttered. "Not that I've taken them in a while."
A light bulb went off in Nick's head. "How long has it been since you've taken them?" he asked.
"About a month, why?" she questioned, unsure of his reasons for wanting to know.
"Did they take a sample of your hair when they arrested you?" he didn't hear her question.
"Yeah. Why?" she still wasn't following.
"I've got an idea," he said. "I need to go."
"Oh, ok," she replied, a little taken aback but his sudden change. "Come by later?"
"When I can," he responded and left.
She sat down on her couch, finishing her sandwich. She flipped on the TV and tried to get lost in the show. She pondered what Nick was up to, but tried to keep the thoughts pushed out of her mind. She didn't know how much longer she'd get to spend at home and she wanted to enjoy whatever time she might have left.