Hi everyone. Thanks for all the great reviews.
Nicole101: That's O.K. - you love Greg like I love Nick. Thanks for the review!
Chrissie0707: Thanks for the great review. Yea I liked guffawed, though it is hard to pronounce.
Tefla: Thanks again for being my beta. I really appreciate. Thanks for the review as well. You rock girl!
NickGilGreggonumber1fan: Yea I think that Nick should let them protect him, but we shall see. Hee hee.
Mma63: Your feelings are right...just wait and see. Thanks for the review. Don't worry about the other chapters. It sure was annoying not being to get into FF.
Jojojojo01: Thanks for the review. I was really happy with the way that chapter turned out. Hope you enjoy this one. I will try to put more Greg in, but I like Nick the most and Warrick next, but for my fans I will do my best. -
Angelic Little Devil: Thanks for the review. I was happy with the way the chapter turned. I wrote it how I thought they would act and yes your detection is right. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!
And now Chapter 12 of Held in Contempt……………
Ryan had returned to Maxwell Singer's estate after leaving Dewayne Fletcher's home. Of course Mr. Fletcher was staying in a completely different location. He wouldn't be needed until the morning. Ryan walked into the foyer and up to Singer's office. He knocked on the door.
"Come in." he heard the voice on the other side call out.
Ryan slowly opened the door and walked in. He made sure to close the door behind him. Mr. Singer was one for privacy. No one knew his business except for a small handful of people. Ryan was lucky enough to be one of those people.
"Ah Ryan…I was just going to call your for an update." Singer said as he opened a gold cigar box on his desk. He selected a cigar and savored the smell of it before cutting the end off and lighting it.
"Mr. Singer, everything has gone according to plan, Williamson, the District Attorney put Stokes into protective custody. So Williamson's distracted. We also picked up our guest Mr. Fletcher. He's cooperating fully."
"Very good Ryan. Hopefully by this time tomorrow Brent will be a free man."
"Yes sir." Ryan agreed.
"That will be all. Good work Ryan.
"Thank you sir. Have a nice evening." Ryan walked out of the room leaving Maxwell Singer by himself. He continued to smoke his cigar with an evil gleam in his eye.
"One more day Brent then you will be free."
The next morning
Warrick sat in his SUV in the parking lot of the courthouse; he was scheduled to testify within the hour. Right now it was Grissom's turn and being a witness himself he wasn't allowed in the courtroom until after Grissom testified. Once their testimonies were over then they could remain in the courtroom. Both of them planned on being there when Nick was scheduled. They knew that he needed their support.
Warrick pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nick's number. He had promised Nick that he would call him before he went on the stand. He could here the phone ringing.
"Stokes." Nick answered with a mumble.
"Hey Nicky…Did I wake you?"
"No man, I was just lying here, but awake. You about ready to go in?"
"Yea I'm just sitting out here in the parking lot. I thought I'd give you a call since cell phones and pagers aren't allowed in the courtroom. Grissom's on the stand now."
"He is? Well that's good. Grissom will give them hell. So how do you feel? Are you ready?"
"I feel good. I'm ready enough. Don't worry Nick this guy is going down."
"I know. I know. Well go knock em' dead. Give me a call when you are finished and let me know how it went."
"You got it man. Have fun watching T.V." Warrick said teasingly.
"Ha. Ha. You are just too funny. I'll talk to you later."
Both men hung up their phones. Warrick took one last look in his rearview mirror making sure that his tie was centered and got out of his SUV and headed towards the courthouse.
As Warrick was walking into the courthouse he was followed in by three men and two women all dressed in business attire. Warrick turned to the left after going through security and made his way to the district attorney's office where he was to wait until he was called to testify.
The three men and two women had made there way to the courtroom where Grissom was testifying. They each went in separately and sat down in different spots throughout the courtroom. When they walked in Brent Mitchell turned around to see who had just come in. He showed just a small bit of recognition and turned back around.
Both Ryan and Michael Mitchell were in the courtroom watching Grissom's testimony. They kept a close eye on Dewayne Fletcher who was standing just to the left of the judge in his bailiff's uniform. He was nervous and he was fidgeting with his hands. He kept steeling looks at Ryan across the courtroom.
Ryan showed an air of confidence. He knew that everything was in place; it was only a matter of time when their plan was going to be set in motion.
The prosecutor just finished with Grissom, when he called for Warrick to come into the courtroom.
Warrick entered the courtroom and looked around. He was use to this kind of setting. With being a CSI they were in court testifying all the time. He could honestly say that he wasn't the least bit nervous. He knew that he would do well, because he was doing this for Nick.
He made his way up to the stand were he was met by Mr. Williamson who held out the bible.
"Please place your left hand on the bible and repeat after me. I, state your name, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God."
Warrick repeated the words.
"Please have a seat Mr. Brown."
Warrick took his seat on the stand. He had been in this position many times, but this time it was different, he wasn't being questioned as a CSI, he was being questioned as a witness to a crime. He glanced around the courtroom his eyes met with Grissom's who gave him a nod for encouragement. Warrick returned the nod.
"Please state your full name for the record."
"Warrick Brown."
"Mr. Brown, can you please tell the court what you do for a living?" Mr. Williamson asked loud enough for everyone to hear the question.
"I'm a Criminalist with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."
"Mr. Brown where were you on the night of June 6th, 2005?" The prosecutor asked.
Brent sat behind the table glaring at Warrick as he began his testimony. Warrick ignored him.
"We were interviewing a witness for the homicide case we were working on."
"You say we, who were you working with that evening Mr. Brown?"
"I was working with my fellow Criminalist Nick Stokes and Detective Jim Brass of the Las Vegas Police Department."
"Thanks for clarifying. Mr. Brown can you tell us what happened after you were finished interviewing the witness?"
"Sure. We pulled over at a convenience store off of 101st street Nick was thirsty and wanted to get a bottle of water. He went into the store while the detective and myself stayed outside. A few minutes later we heard Nick yell out, we looked up and saw that two men had Nick by each arm and were dragging him towards a Black GMC Van. The detective and I started across the street, when we started to take fire. We had no choice but to take cover. At that point two more men appeared out of the van and pulled Nick in and the van sped off."
"What did you do next?"
"The detective jumped into his car did a u-turn and we pursued them."
"Then what happened?"
"As we were coming to the intersection of 101st and Energy Pass Road a Cadillac came into the intersection and caused a multiple vehicle accident. At that point we were unable to pursue."
Michael Mitchell had had listened to enough testimony. It was time to set things in motion. He looked over to Ryan and nodded his head. Ryan smiled with an evil look in his eyes. Ryan glanced at each person that had entered the courtroom late and gave them the signal.
Dewayne Fletcher saw the signal and started to hyperventilate. He knew what was coming, but he had no choice he had to keep his family safe.
An explosion rocked the courthouse. Warrick, who was still on the stand stopped talking and stood up, as did the rest of the people in the courtroom. Once people realized that it had been a bomb and they heard the fire alarms going off in the building panic started to ensue.
The judge banged the gavel a few times, "Order. Order." He shouted over the rising panic in the courtroom.
Just then Ryan and his people retrieved the guns that had been placed under their seats by Dewayne. Ryan grabbed his gun and shot it in the air.
The people in the room screamed from the gunshot and started to make their way to the door to escape, but Ryan's people had already killed the two bailiff's and took over their positions at the door.
Another one of them took up position next to Dewayne near the judge's exit; the armed group covered all exits.
Michael ran over to Brent and gave him a hug. It had been a while since they were able to actually hug each other. Michael handed Brent a gun and he smiled in satisfaction.
Just then another bomb had gone off; Grissom had stayed seated until he heard that second bomb. He had to remain calm. Nothing was accomplished when people were panicked. He had learned that the hard way. He looked at Warrick who was about to leave the stand and come over; he raised his hand to indicate to stay there. Warrick understood the gesture and sat back down obeying the silent order.
By this time the judge was standing looking over his courtroom, he finally gathered his wits and bellowed, "Just what the hell is going on in here?"
Brent looked over at the judge and laughed, "Was this guy serious?" "You see judge, this is an escape, not sure how much more clear it could be."
Brent stood up on the defendant's table and shot another round into the air. Everyone jumped and looked over to Brent. The gunshot had the effect he was looking for. He had their undivided attention.
Dewayne Fletcher had remained glued to his spot the whole time he was shaking. He still couldn't believe that he allowed this to happen and on top of that assisted these monsters. But he had no choice these monsters still held his wife and son; he had to make sure that they were O.K. He would do this all over again if it meant that they were safe.
Brent finally spoke up it was obvious that the others were taking their orders from the Mitchell brothers. "Now ladies and gentleman if you want to live then I suggest that you remain silent and do what you're told. Now sit down!"
Brent watched in great satisfaction as everyone sat down. He spied Grissom just sitting down when he yelled out. "No Grissom. You and Mr. Brown are my special guests. Get over here now!"
Grissom was grabbed by one of the armed men and escorted over to the defense table where he was pushed down into the chair. The same thing happened to Warrick. The both sat next to each other.
Dewayne could no longer remain quiet. He ran up to Ryan and said with desperation, "I did what you asked. Now I want to see my family."
"Mr. Fletcher you've been cooperative. You can see your wife and son now."
"Oh thank you." He said.
Ryan pulled out his gun and aimed it at Dewayne. His eyes got big. Ryan squeezed the trigger and Dewayne fell to the floor dead.
"If you see your family, tell them I said hi," Ryan said looking down at Dewayne's dead body.
Grissom and Warrick looked at each other with uncertainty they were at the mercy of these killers, who knew what else they were planning. The only thing that brought both men comfort was the fact that Nick was safe, but were they?
Well there you have it Chapter 12. I hope you liked it, plenty more where that came from. Let me know good or bad thoughts and please review! Take care!