A Nightmare in Seattle
Pairing: Sara and Nick (Snickers)
Zach is held at gunpoint by Nigel upon entering his house. Will Deanna, Nick and Sara take the psycho down before Zach gets killed?
A/N: This chapter contains some disturbing scenes and gets an M rating. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Sara, or any other CSI: Vegas character. I own the character Deanna and the other Seattle CSIs.
The Takedown
Two Days Later
Nigel Crane was back in the streets of Seattle after spending two nights at the psychiatric hospital. Now he was hell bent on getting to Deanna and her family. He managed to steal a gun from one of Deanna's neighbors by breaking into the house through the roof and the attic. Early in the evening, he hid behind a bunch of neatly trimmed bushes waiting for the moment to pounce.
Inside the O'Hara House
"That was Zach," Deanna said after she hung up the phone. "He is running a little late due to a case he is prosecuting. It's a murder trial. Don't worry, I haven't been called in to testify, the people from nightshift did the investigation. He told me to start dinner without him. Nicky, he told me to tell you the next time you call your parents that he feels their pain."
"Dee Marie, I am sure my parents will tell Zach that is what happens when he marries a woman whose extended family are lawyers, judges, police officers or politicians," Nick chuckled. "The irony of his complaint is that he is an Assistant District Attorney."
"If the criminalist cousins could stop their banter," Sara protested. "There is a hungry vegetarian waiting to eat. There are three impatient little girls who want to be fed and I am sure the two of you are starving."
"Let's make dinner together," Deanna suggested with a smirk. "This is what Zach and I do twice a week. We do various things, last time we made a close to authentic hibachi style Japanese meal without the hibachi. It was awesome! A previous time, we had a Brazilian night using some of Grandma Giroux' recipes. Tonight, we are doing Greek. I bought a few boxes of phyllo dough last week for the occasion."
"Deanna, are you also Brazilian?" Sara asked.
"Not really, I am a quarter Portuguese," Deanna replied. "My paternal grandmother was born and raised in Rio De Janeiro. Her dad worked for the Portuguese consulate in Brazil. They were wealthy so she and her sisters and brother could study anywhere in the world they wanted. She went to Tulane, met Grandpa Giroux and the rest is history. One of the languages I speak is Portuguese."
"Sara, you had better not ask Marina Giroux for Portuguese lessons," Nick smirked. "That feisty old lady could also teach you a few choice words. Believe me, my sister Alicia and I saw first hand what she taught some of her 17 grandkids to say. Dee Marie, would you care to tell the story?"
"I had just finished my junior year at the University of Washington," Deanna said. "Jason thought it would be a cool idea to go to Rio de Janeiro for two weeks. He recruited Nicky and Alicia to join us. We stayed at my great aunt Rosa's place since she didn't mind having her great niece, great nephew and two of their cousins there. Two days before Jason and I returned to New Orleans and Nicky and Alicia to Dallas, we were walking down a street. There was this young man who had a few caiprinhas too many and he tried to flirt with Alicia and me. I said a few curse words to him and the jackass grabbed me. I said a few things that my grandma taught me to say and kicked him it the balls. Nicky and Jason both winced at what I did."
"We walked a few blocks," Nick added. "No, we ran thinking this guy would recover from getting his manly parts kicked and come after Alicia and Deanna. I feared that they had risked arrest, but luckily nothing happened. Nobody messes with my cousin and I am sure that Nigel will learn this the hard way."
"That is if he even tries to come in," Deanna corrected him. "He would have messed with my family one time too many. Come on, all this talk is making me hungry. Let's start cooking."
About an hour and a half later, Nick, Sara, Amber, Madeline, Teresa and Deanna were at the table. The three adults and Amber ate Greek salad, spanakopita, rice pilaf and baklava while the twins had bite size pasta with marinara sauce and rice pudding. Nick and Sara helped Deanna put the girls to bed. Once the girls were asleep, Deanna, Sara and Nick went to the living room to watch a home movie of the Deanna and Zach's wedding that Nick and the rest of the Stokes family attended.
"That punk is lucky that the wedding was at Shreveport and not in New Orleans, Dallas, Vegas or Seattle," Deanna said with her teeth clenched. "He would have faced arrest for perverted behavior."
"Who is that kid?" Sara asked.
"That's our cousin Max," Nick said. "He has had a breast fetish since he was a baby. He also likes to lay down and look up girls' dresses. I am pretty sure he will be voted most likely to be slapped around by the girls in his high school."
"Nicky, would you believe Max will graduate from high school this year?" Deanna asked. "Lisette is graduating the same year, that is if she stops ditching school."
"College girls, beware!" Nick chuckled.
"Don't encourage him!" Deanna laughed.
Outside the O'Hara house
Zach arrived home after a long grueling day prosecuting a murder trial. He parked his Prius in the driveway and got out. He wanted to read his daughters a bedtime story and talk with Deanna, Nick and Sara about their day. He wasn't halfway between the driveway and the house on the walkway before he felt someone's arm snake around his neck and cold metal on his temple.
"Mr. O'Hara, I have a gun and holding you hostage," the man said. "I want to meet your wife. She is a cousin of my friend Nick Stokes."
"What do you want from my family?" Zach asked. "Are you trying to torture Nick through Deanna?"
"Shut the fuck up!" the man said. "One more peep from you and I will make Deanna a widow!"
Zach remained silent and was dragged by the man holding hostage. All he could think of was Deanna and their three small daughters. He especially thought about a conversation his had with Deanna a month ago about having a fourth child. He closed is eyes as he was dragged to the door and prayed the maniac wouldn't kill him.
Back inside the O'Hara house
Nick, Sara and Deanna were upstairs checking on Amber and the twins. When Nick saw the girls were asleep, his heart melted at sight of their innocent appearances. He wanted to come home from work seeing something like that. He already made up his mind that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Sara and have kids with her. A moment later, he saw something out the window that changed his emotions from happiness to angst.
"Dee Marie, something's going on out there," Nick said with fright in his voice. "It looks like Nigel Crane has taken Zach hostage and is trying to enter the house."
"Nicky, call the police and tell them we have a hostage situation," Deanna panicked. "I have them on speed dial, number 2. Give them my address and let them know who you are and that you're my cousin. I am sure they will dispatch people ASAP. I'll give you and Sara my handguns while I have my Tazer and tranquilizing guns."
"Are you putting yourself at risk?" Sara asked.
"I think she means we have to cover her," Nick tried to reason with her. "Go with her now! I need to make a very urgent phone call to the Seattle Police Department. I'll meet you downstairs."
The women left the room and Nick started a mental prayer for everyone's safety, including his own. He calmed down, picked up the phone and hit the number two. He quickly thought about what he was going to say.
"I would like to report a hostage situation," Nick said. "Assistant District Attorney Zachary O'Hara is being held by a Nigel Crane, the escapee from a Nevada prison. As far as I know there aren't any other hostages. My name is Nick Stokes, I'm a CSI with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I am staying in Seattle now helping out with the investigation. My cousin is Deanna Giroux-O'Hara, she is a CSI with your crime lab. Can you send some officers to 124 Larkspur Lane?"
"Mr. Stokes, I have already dispatched officers to your cousin's place," a woman's voice on the other end told him. "They should be there immediately."
"Thank you!" Nick said, hung up and joined the two women. "Sara, do you have a gun for me?"
"Here it is," Sara smiled handing him a gun.
Downstairs
The front door opened and Nigel entered the house dragging Zach with him. Zach was getting more frightened of the situation before him. He knew that if he got out of this situation alive and in one piece, he would have to exchange notes with Nick about the psychotic maniac.
"Deanna, I have your husband and I may kill him!" Nigel shouted.
Upstairs
Nick cringed at the sound of Nigel's voice. He couldn't believe the man that terrorized him three and a half years ago was now in his cousin's house. He didn't want to know what Nigel would be capable of doing now.
"We are going down and hold him until the officers and Cameron get here," Deanna whisper. "I will use either the Tazer or the tranquilizing guns to subdue him. Let's take care of this creep and get Zach back alive and as unscathed as possible. Cover me!"
The three went down and saw Nigel still holding Zach with a gun. Nick's heart started beating rapidly when he saw the man who put him through hell a few years earlier, but he manage to calm himself before he botched up the plans. When Nigel saw the three with weapons he pointed the gun at them.
"Deanna Giroux-O'Hara, you don't know how lucky I am to meet you," Nigel smirked with evil. "I have seen your picture at my friend's place."
Both Sara and Nick felt the bile coming up, but they had to ignore for Zach's sake. Nick briefly looked at Deanna and hope she would say something.
"Let my husband go," Deanna was calmly, but loud enough for Nigel to hear. "Why are you doing to my family?"
"Stop asking me why I do this!" Nigel snapped. "I just want to make friends."
"Is this the way you make friends?" Deanna asked and felt her patience slowly wear thin. "Stalking them? Making them live in fear while you carry out your sick voyeuristic fantasies? Suffocating them to death like you did Jane Galloway? Throwing them out of second story windows the way you hurt my cousin? Loitering around my neighborhood? Looking at young women while they're in the bathroom? That is no way a normal human being does that to build a friendship. You are disturbed and psychotic!"
"Keep it up and you'll be a widow at age 29!" Nigel exploded and heard Nick and Sara cocking their guns. "The two of you drop your guns or this man gets it!"
Nick and Sara put down the guns, but Deanna kept her Tazer and tranquilizing guns close by.
"Nigel, the police are on their way!" Deanna didn't flinch. "Release my husband, put your weapon down and surrender!"
"You have to give me another hostage to hold if I do," Nigel smirked. "I want Officer Serena Vazquez to take his place."
"She's in another part of Seattle helping with an investigation," Deanna's anger was beginning to show as Nigel violently shoved Zach down the floor. "Now that was uncalled for! You didn't have to do that!"
"You should have gotten Serena!" Nigel said. "Nick's girlfriend is the next best thing."
"No, it's not!" Nick finally intervened. "Leave Sara alone, take me instead!"
"I have had enough of you!" Nigel yelled at Nick.
"How do you want this to end?" Deanna asked the same question Nick did three and a half years earlier, but unlike his soft terrified tone, hers was loud and filled with anger.
"I don't know," Nigel said and that prompted Deanna to point her tranquilizing gun at him.
"Take a step closer and you'll be rendered unconscious," Deanna said. "If you so much as lay a finger on Nick or Sara, you will be treated to several volts of electricity coursing through your body."
Nigel didn't listen to her warnings and took a step closer. However, he didn't get a chance touch Nick or Sara. Deanna shot him a tranquilizing dart and he slumped on the floor. Sara, Deanna and Nick breathed a collective sigh of relief. Detective Cameron and four uniforms entered to take Nigel to the police station and to check on the residents and guests.
"Deanna, are you okay?" Cameron asked. "What about Mr. Stokes and Ms. Sidle? Why is Zach lying on the floor?"
"We are fine," Deanna said speaking for herself, Nick and Sara. "I am not sure about Zach. I think Nigel Crane hurt him."
"The paramedics are here just in case," Cameron said. "Nick, help me bring Zach to the ambulance. He's conscious, but I don't want to take that chance. Sara, wake Amber and the twins. Pack some of your things, you guys are staying with me until this place is released as a crime scene. First we are going to the station for statements."
Zach was treated at the scene for a small cut to his cheek and was released after being told by the paramedic that if he doesn't feel well to go to the ER right away. He helped Sara, Deanna and Nick pack a few of their things and woke the girls. After they left the house, Nick stopped his cousin.
"How long does that tranquilizing dart last?" Nick whispered.
"About an hour," Deanna whispered back. "He will be in the station holding cell when he wakes up for it."
Athena and Alan went to the O'Hara house to process the scene. By then, Nigel Crane was already at the station. True to Deanna's words, he woke up in the holding cell of the police department waiting to be booked and have a complaint filed against him. There will be questions and answers for his actions and thoughts.
TBC