Chapter 4

After talking to several of the inmates here, Nick sat quietly in the cell waiting for Erin to return. She had left the cell to clean up, she said. He was happy to have a little time to himself, due to the fact that she had been his shadow since he woke up hours ago. He was a social, and extroverted person, but people have their limits. Especially since 'the incident,' which is when he felt his life had turned into a kind of fish bowl. He expected his family to contact him more often, he even expected the additional pressure from his family to move back to Texas, and change careers. He could deal with that, what he was having a hard time dealing with was his co-workers treating him like he was the little brother.

The graveyard shift watched him for cracks, like he would break apart any minute. Any emotional outbreak had to be due to 'the incident.' And then there were the other lab techs, who seemed to be listening to the radio and scanners a lot closer. At least they seemed to be listening out for everyone and not just him.

What was worse, was the kind of celebrity that he seemed to have picked up at the time. It wasn't so much the officers of the LVPD who acted like they knew him personally, even if they had never met. He knew that many of them had worked with the lab to help find him, and therefore knew a lot about him. How could you do that and not feel some sort of connection with that person?

What was awkward was the number of people in the neighborhood and streets who came up to him like he was a television star. Some had taken pictures, a few kids had even asked for his autograph. He didn't know what to do, so he declined politely and sited the shake in his hands as an excuse. The Community relations office, at the time, had even asked him to agree to make some appearances. Luckily the grave yard shift, as well as Ecklie, had balked at the suggestion. They took the hint, but he did make a concession of giving a statement of thanks to his fellow officers and everyone in the lab, who had worked tirelessly to find him.

Just as it felt like things were calming down, and giving him a chance to breathe and feel like things were at least getting back to normal, and this had to happen. He had just lost so much ground due to his bad luck. Murphy's Law. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and due to his recent past, he became the perfect hostage for these women. The Texan knew and had gleaned from things that he had heard, that Jen used Catherine's motherly instincts towards him against her and that didn't sit well with him at all.

Suddenly Nick's thoughts were interrupted and he felt like he was no longer alone. He looked up, expecting to see Erin returning. But he didn't recognize the woman in front of him. The good old 'southern charm' that had been instilled in him since childhood, abandoned him due to necessity. If he asked, as he normally would, if he could help the person, he was afraid of what the woman would say. So he went with the business aspect of the day. "Are you here to talk about what's been going on around here?"

"No. I just wanted to stop by and say hello to you, pretty boy."

"Okay." He really hoped that his shadow returned soon, this woman was looking like she hadn't eaten in a while and he was now on the menu. "If you're looking for Erin, she should be back shortly."

The grey haired woman just started slinking into the cell. She watched as his eyes darted from her to around the cell. Those beautiful brown eyes. "What's the matter, pretty boy, you look a little nervous?"

He didn't know how to answer, so he thought it would be wiser to just stay quiet. He watched as she just kept moving closer to him with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Nick Stokes would not usually worry about receiving attention from a woman. He had learned long ago how to leave a situation like that. This was different. Here he was a hostage, a prisoner. How would these women react if he defended himself? Luckily for him, he didn't have to find out.

As the woman reached for him, they both heard Jen from the door way. "Rene, get out of there now!" When Rene didn't move, the voice got quieter, colder, and more dangerous. "Don't make me tell you again, Rene. If you even touch that boy, your life as you know it will be forfeit. Do you understand me?"

Rene seemed to pause and look into his eyes. Nick never took his eyes off of her. But she quickly straightened up and responded to the threat issued to her by her fellow inmate. "I was just looking for a little fun. What's wrong with that?"

"Are you that stupid? The only reason they have not taken any action against us here is because of him. We are fine because we are treating him well and keeping calm. If you mess that up in any way, it could mean that someone could get hurt."

"Why do you care? I know what you were put in here for."

"Well some of us are sorry for what we did, and besides, I don't care what happens to a maggot like you, but what would happen to Erin, or Chiqui, if the Warden took strong action. They shouldn't be here, and I won't let you screw up what we are trying to accomplish here. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good. Now get out of there now."

After Rene had left she turned to Nick and asked, "You okay, Texas?"

"Yea, fine. Thanks for that. I wasn't sure what would happen…"

"Yea well, don't worry about it, it shouldn't have happened. Molly was supposed to be watching Rene. Erin should be back in a minute. I'll stay until she gets back."

"I assume that when you hear from Catherine, that you will let me know."

"You got it. Try not to worry, Tex, I really have no intention of hurting you if it can be helped."

"You know that eventually someone is going to get hurt. These things never resolve themselves peacefully."

"Well lets just hope this is one of those few times that they are."

"If Cargile is as dangerous as you seem to think that he is, and he finds out that he's been compromised, he could take some serious action against us, and if you're not careful, it will look justified. And if that happens, he'll get a metal and have more power to do what he wishes."

"I know, we're keeping it relaxed."

"Is everyone?"

"You let me worry about that." She caught a familiar form approaching the cell. "Erin's here, so I'll see you later."

Nick just sighed and lay down on the bed to try and catch some sleep. He really needed to try to get rid of this head ache.

Lukas Cargile picked up the radio to check in with the guards near cell block A. "hey, Domosi, everything okay down there?"

"Yea, the block is pretty quiet right now. It is almost more quiet than it normally is."

"What are they doing?"

"Not a whole lot right now. That detective, Vega, was allowed to talk to Stokes. They talked for a few minutes, and now Stokes is back to wherever they have him held up."

"What did they talk about?"

"I don't really know, I wasn't really close enough to pick up much. I guess that Stokes was telling him what he and some of the ladies have been talking about."

Cargile picked up on that statement quickly and broke in. "Who's he been talking to?"

"I haven't really been keeping track, Lukas. Who cares? Whatever he's doing, he's keeping the situation pretty calm from in there."

That had him worried. "Okay, well keep us informed up here and call if you need anything."

"You got it. Domosi out."

Lukas Cargile looked around and caught the attention of his fellow officer, Kanney, and directed him to the corner. "We may have a little trouble. That CSI guy was talking to some of the girls and passed some info on to Vega."

"What'd they tell him?"

"Don't know, Domosi didn't care enough to listen in."

"That's not good, Luke."

"No, really? I'm heading to the locker. Give me a minute or so and then follow me down there."

"What are we going to do?"

"You leave that to me. If we do this right, we may get a slap on the wrist or even fired, but it'll be better than jail time."

"I don't like it, but I guess we have no choice."

With that, both men split up and Lukas Cargile left the room telling the room that he was going to the bath room. A few moments later Kanney followed him out quietly.

Catherine had just left the conference room to make her call with their findings to Detective Vega. The rest of the team were spreading out to put a rush on gathering enough of the evidence to look further into what looked like his illegal activities on the part of at least one of the guards, so that they could get a warrant.

Catherine was glad to see that Grissom had taken the initiative to meet with the Sheriff. She was afraid that he would ask her to do it, but he hadn't. Grissom must have realized that she did not want to let this one go in order to play politics, not when this was the second time that something had happened to Nick while under her command. So now Grissom was upstairs with the Sheriff and Ecklie trying to coordinate with the women's correctional facility on how they could settle this situation without any violence.

Elsewhere Sara had recruited Greg to help her make the paperwork match the evidence that they currently had. It had to sing so that any judge could see it clear as day. Warrick had gone down to see Dr. Roberts to work with him about the questionable deaths to see if any could be seen as accidental, or if someone had missed the signs of murder there also. It was all coming together, but if they didn't handle things right, it could blow up in their faces. But the first step was waiting for the warrant which the Sheriff and Grissom had both gone to get.

"Detective Vega."

"Sam, it's Catherine. I've got news, and it has to be handled carefully."

"Does it have anything to do with that name I gave you earlier?"

"Yes, it looks like Cargile was involved in each one of these cases in some way. A few we can't prove as anything but what they are for right now. But in each case, Cargile's statement is included. I wouldn't usually think that was anything to be concerned about, except when you take into consideration what you told me earlier."

"Do we have enough right now to detain him?"

"Maybe, but we're double checking everything so we can also take it to the inmates in cell block A. Just keep your eye out for him right now."

After he had hung up the phone with Catherine, Vega entered the conference room where everyone, except those on guard duty by block A, was supposed to be gathered. But the occupants of the room were light by a few, and the worrisome Cargile was among the missing. "Ms. Kessler, where is Cargile?"

"Bathroom."

"I didn't see him in the hall, how long ago did he leave?"

"Not sure, a few minutes maybe? What's the problem? Why are you worried about where my officer might be?"

"Well, it looks like you have a bad apple in your ranks, and he may be trying to cover his tracks. Is anyone else missing?"

"Yes, Kanney. Go check the bathroom. If they are not there, then we'll just have to find them."

A/N - Its been a busy week, and will be a busier holiday. This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I wanted to get something posted because I don't know when I will have the next oportunity to work on this will be. It won't be too long, and I certainly won't forget it. However, I got engaged this past weekend, and this holiday weekend will be filed with making plans and things of that nature. I hope you like this.