A Nightmare in Seattle

Pairing: Sara and Nick (Snickers)

Nick, Sara, Deanna and a few others go back to Deanna's neighborhood to investigate a peeping tom. Nigel makes his appearance.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Sara, or any other CSI: Vegas character. I own the character Deanna and the other Seattle CSIs.

The Voyeur

Deanna, along with Nick and Sara, arrived at the house that was a few doors down from her. She rang the doorbell and a familiar face opened the door.

"Ms. Giroux-O'Hara, thank God it's you!" a traumatized young woman huffed.

"Cut the formalities, Chelsea," Deanna calmly insisted. "You called about a voyeur."

"Yeah, he was in his late 30s or early 40s," Chelsea cringed and looked at the two people with her neighbor. "Who are these people?"

"I'm Nick Stokes and this is my girlfriend Sara Sidle," Nick introduced himself and Sara. "We are both with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I am also Deanna's cousin."

"With all due respect Mr. Stokes and Ms. Sidle," Chelsea said. "Isn't Seattle way out of your jurisdiction?"

"She's a pre-law student at my Alma Mater," Deanna whispered to Nick.

"There may be a Las Vegas connection to your voyeur," Sara said. "You mentioned the man's age range. Can you tell us anything more about him?"

"I saw him looking at me while I was in the shower," Chelsea replied. "He was wearing an orange jumpsuit. He had thick glasses and dark hair. This pervert looks like a freaky psychotic version of that 'Can you hear me now? Good.' guy."

That's Nigel she's describing, Nick thought as he subtly clenched his teeth and fist.

"Could you tell us what tree he was hiding in?" Deanna asked.

"Come on in and I'll show you," Chelsea said. "Also, I want you to know that he was also playing with himself. What a freaking sicko!"

"Great! We can collect semen samples and run them through CODIS," Nick beamed. "I am sure they now have Nigel Crane's DNA in the database."

"Nick, we don't even know if it's Nigel," Sara whispered. "Remember, he lived and hung out in attics."

"His MO probably has changed since escaping prison, Sara!" Nick hissed.

"If the three of you would just follow me upstairs," Chelsea said. "I'll show you where the perverted tree is located."

Sara, Deanna and Nick followed Chelsea upstairs to her bathroom. When they looked at the window, she pointed out the tree. Nick asked her to verify her finding and she did.

"Nicky, come with me and we'll process the tree and the surrounding area," Deanna said. "Sara, I want you to talk Chelsea to see if she can remember anything else about this pervert. Also, photograph that tree from the view of Chelsea's bathroom."

"Sure," Sara said. "Have fun processing the tree."

Both Nick and Deanna chuckled and left Sara alone with Chelsea. As the two cousins left the house, Nick had a strange feeling in his gut that something was amiss. Deanna gave him a look of concern.

"Dee Marie, I know that look," Nick said. "Before you ask, I have a feeling that the peeping tom isn't Nigel."

"Oh come on, Nicky," Deanna protested. "From the descriptions that you and my neighbors gave us, it has to be that sociopath."

"I just told Sara that Nigel Crane could have changed his MO when he escaped from prison," he shrugged.

"He probably did that to avoid apprehension and getting sent back there," she theorized. "Let's process this tree now! You can take photos of it and I'll swab the branch the pervert was on."

Deanna gave Nick her camera and some extra film. She let him photograph the tree focusing the biggest and most stable branch. Nick took a step back and Deanna shined her ALS light to find semen stains and allow him to photograph them. Once Nick was satisfied, Deanna swabbed the area and put the swab into a small container. She placed the container into bag that she labeled and put the bag into her kit.

"Hey Dee Marie, should we chop down the tree or at least cut off that branch?" Nick asked.

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Deanna replied. "I am not sure how CSIs in Nevada approach a situation like this, but CSIs in Washington State have taken some heat from a radical environmental group. Don't get me wrong, I care about the environment, but I have to do my job and solve cases. We had a compromise, we could photograph, dust, swab and process the tree as long as we didn't chop it down. If we had to do that, Chelsea's tree hugging roommate would have us both in IA faster than you can say 'Louisiana crawfish and Texas barbeque'."

"There was a case that I worked with Catherine Willows that involved a tree," he said. "It was an apparent murder of a man and the bullet that he was killed with ended up on a tree. I had no choice, but to chop down that tree. Catherine wouldn't let me compromise evidence or the scene."

"I guess things are different depending on jurisdiction," she smiled.

"Let's look around to see if this creep left anything besides his footprints," he beamed, took out his cell phone and dialed a number. "I'll call my boss while we have a look."

"Willows!" the voice on the other end said.

"Hey Catherine, it's Nick," he replied. "Where's Grissom?"

"He and Brass are in a meeting with Ecklie," she cringed. "I heard you and Sara are in Seattle trying to apprehend Nigel. You are also protecting your cousin. Deanna is her name, correct?"

"That's right, Catherine," he said. "She is here with me now, processing a crime scene involving a voyeur. There was a perverted creep that climbed a tree and watched a young woman as she showered. This young woman happened to be one of my cousin's neighbors. We have reason to believe that Nigel had changed his MO after he escaped from that Nevada prison. Deanna thinks he is doing that to avoid apprehension."

"That's one intuitive cookie," she beamed. "How is Deanna faring with this nightmare? How's Sara?"

"Deanna is a smart and tough young woman," he smirked. "She is a CSI in her own right. The previous night, I had a nightmare about the Nigel incident and she was there for me. Sara is fine and taking all of these shenanigans well. Catherine, I have to get going. Deanna is making a cast of this footprint we just saw and I am going assist her. We'll take the evidence back, analyze it and I'll fax the results or have my cousin email it. Tell the guys that Sara and I said hello!"

"Don't rush the results," she said. "Say hello to Sara and Deanna for me. Tell your cousin I would like to meet her when she and her family visit Vegas."

"I am sure they'll come soon," he sighed. "Deanna wants to kick Hodges' ass."

"Nicky, almost everyone wants to kick that guy's ass," she chuckled. "I'll let you go! I'll see you and Sara in a few days."

"We'll see you soon, Catherine," he said and they hung up.

"Who was that, Nicky?" Deanna asked.

"That was Catherine Willows, a colleague of mine and Sara's," he responded ask he opened the package containing premixed plaster and poured it into the mold that Deanna set up. "I gave her an update about this case. When you, Zach and the girls are in Vegas, she would like to meet you."

"Nicky, I would love to meet everyone you work with," she grinned. "Then, I would like to take a crack at this Hodges."

"You shall, Deanna," he smirked. "You shall."

Deanna noticed a few short loose hairs, grabbed them with tweezers and placed them in a bindle. Both Nick and Deanna spent another hour processing the area of the semen stained tree. They went to Chelsea's house and met with Sara. The three criminalists thanked their hostess, left the house and exchanged notes and observations. They returned to the crime lab and delivered the evidence to the appropriate lab techs. All they had to do was to wait for answers.

TBC