Title: Can't Take It
Summary: Snickers. Follow Grissom, Nick, and Sara through a case; one that could ultimately draw two of our favorite CSIs together.
Disclaimer: Last time I checked, it wasn't mine. But, hey, a girl can dream.
A/N: Sorry it took a while to update. Well, actually, it only took a few days, so strike that line. I have a term paper rough draft due tomorrow I should be working on, but this is much more fun. So here we go. Oh, before I forget, thanks for the awesome reviews. It's cool to think that people actually take time out of their lives to read something I wrote.
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"Hey Nicky, how's your case going?"
Nick looked up from the tox report for Jack Hobbes he was reviewing. They'd found traces of alcohol, and matched it to the bottle of champagne found in the kitchen of his house. It's what Nick suspected, nothing to suggest poison or anything of the sort, but now it was official. And it confirmed Karen's "romantic night gone wrong" scenario, although he personally didn't need a report to believe her. The DA did though.
"It's going alright, Cath. I'm just waiting on some stuff in the lab…Grissom's at the scene, getting a possible weapon. Sara's pouring over our vic's possessions. What kind of case did you pull?"
Catherine took a sip of her coffee before making a face and adding some sugar. Another sip to make sure the coffee tasted alright, and she responded, "Well, you guys definitely pulled the best case of the night. I got a B&E down at a liquor store just off the strip, and Warrick got a missing persons with Greg." She took a seat across from Nick. "So what's your next move?"
"I figure I'll check in with Sara, see if she needs some help" he shrugged.
"Too late" Sara announced, walking into the room, a grin creeping across her face. She grabbed tow waters from the break room fridge, tossing one to Nick before crashing on the couch and opening hers. "I've just finished. Nothing new from the vic's clothes, but in his wallet? Crumpled note that looks suspicious, and his work ID card. Looks like he owns a used car dealerships. I'm thinking plenty of disgruntled workers for suspects?"
Nick pointed a finger at her and teased, "Now, now, Sara, don't get ahead of the evidence."
Sara just rolled her eyes, rewarding Nick with a gap-tooth grin. Nick just laughed before asking, "So what' this about a note?"
Catherine took another sip of her coffee, watching the antics of the two young CSIs from behind the rim of her mug.
"Looks like it was written to Karen, can't make much of it out; someone ripped it in a few pieces, but the gist of it is she broke up with someone a while ago, and he wanted Jack out of the picture." Sara said, drinking her water. "Brass says Karen works as Jack's secretary at the dealership, so if someone left it on her desk maybe he found the note before she did?"
"Or she showed it to him" Catherine offered.
Sara nodded as Nick spoke, "Either way, we've got to find out where this note came from."
"Field trip" Sara noted. "Excellent."
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Grissom sighed. This guy, Jack, must've not been a big cook. Not too many guys were, that's true, but the average household should have at least one steak knife, if not a set. This man barely had enough forks to get through the week. Grissom shook his head, feeling a headache coming on. So far, all he found was a set of grommet cooking knives. An unopened set of cooking knives; looked like the kind a person would order off of a late night infomercial. He'd opened the box and tested for blood anyways. Nothing showed up, not that he expected it to. He leaned against the counter, frustrated.
His cell rang. "Grissom" he answered. "Yeah, hey Sara. What? No such luck. This guy apparently had a thing against cutlery…car dealership, huh? Well, until the lab's done with our stuff, it's all we've got. Want some company? Oh, Nick's with you. Sure, ok. See you back at the lab." He hung up, an uncomfortable sensation forming in the pit of his stomach. It felt strangely like…jealousy? Grissom swallowed it quickly; so Sara was bringing Nick. What did he care? He growled angrily in spite of himself, before something on the floor caught his eye…
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"You know, this place doesn't look half-bad for a used car dealership" Sara noted, getting out of the Denali.
"What do you mean?" asked Nick, killing the engine before grabbing their kits from the back.
"Back in San Francisco" she started, accepting her kit from the Texan, "I bought my first, and last, might I add, used car. The place looked a little shady, but I needed a ride. I found so many stains on that thing when I used some lab equipment on it, I didn't even want to know how they all got there!" She winced at the memory while Nick laughed good-naturedly, holding the door open as they walked in the main building.
"Thanks" said Sara, waking inside. They looked around; cheap fluorescent lighting and (in Nick and Sara's opinion) tacky linoleum flooring greeted them, along with a few rows of chairs along the wall. A hallway to their right seemed to lead into a large room filled with desks and relating salespeople. Only one of them was occupied with a customer. To their left was a bored looking girl, no more than 16, manning what appeared to be an information counter. Behind the counter, they saw another small hallway, which looked like it led to the back executive offices.
Nick and Sara approached the girl, who was toying with a strand of choppy black hair, snapping bright pink gum loudly. "Can I help you?" she asked in a bored tone, popping her gum obnoxiously.
"Yeah, actually" Sara replied. "I'm Sara Sidle, this is Nick Stokes. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. We were hoping we could take a look at Miss Karen Gordan's work station."
"Unless you got a warrant, no-can-do" the girl deadpanned. The pair must have looked surprised, because the girl let out an exasperated sigh. "Look" she explained, "My dad used to be a lawyer, so I know my rights. Growing up around all that legal mumbo-jumbo crap does that to a person. Mr. Hobbes doesn't like anyone going back there. So…don't let the door hit you."
Sara shared a frustrated look with Nick before telling the girl, "Well, Jack Hobbes is dead. So I don't think he'll mind."
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A/N: I think this chapter is a bit shorter than the other two, but I'm not sure exactly how I want to divvy up the next few sections. It's still good, though, right? Reassure me... I love reading reviews!