CHAPTER TEN
Iris wearily opened the door to her home later that night. She was exhausted from the day's events. Brass had left a voicemail on her phone saying things were going well between him and Ellie. They were talking better than they had in the last few years with some disagreements but no all-out fights. She wished she could sense something about her in the message, but Brass was no nonsense kind of man and she shouldn't think wistfully about something that wasn't there.
She was asleep as soon as she hit the pillow, a sleep without dreams, and it seemed her alarm was ringing the very next moment. Feeling a bit stiff as she got up, she went on to shower and dress for the day. The funeral arrangements were in place for tomorrow. She had asked for the help of her CSI teammates with it and they had rallied around her, as she knew they would. Kaylee's pallbearers would be Brass, Grissom, Warrick, Nick, Greg and David. The pastor from her church would give the eulogy. Kaylee would be laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery. Grissom had asked how she could afford the funeral. She had informed him that when her husband had died there had been a very generous life insurance policy from which she had invested carefully and used sparingly. She could undertake this.
The investigation into Kaylee's death remained ongoing. Thus far, the trace evidence gathered from the crime scene had not culminated in the naming of a suspect or suspects. No witnesses had been found to tie Kaylee to any known pimps or other low-lifes who preyed on runaways like her. The rape kit had yielded DNA from two different male subjects but there had been no hits on the various databases. At least Iris could see the young woman was given a proper burial and be mourned by those who cared.
Today, she would just take as a quiet day for herself to prepare for tomorrow. Her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. "King," she said. "Mr. Ecklie, what can I do for you, sir? WHAT? No, that's not acceptable. Absolutely not! I'm on my way to the lab now then where we can talk about this further in person." She angrily snapped the phone shut and struggled to keep her composure. Grabbing her car keys, she rushed out the door to the Jeep and upon jumping in squawked rubber as she whipped out the driveway and headed for the lab.
Upon arriving to the lab and swiftly parking, Iris strode through the parking lot into the lab building. She brushed past Nick and Warrick without a word, and they then followed her out of curiosity. Her face set as she made her way to Ecklie's office. She didn't care who heard or saw what happened next.
Ecklie was on the phone when she walked into his office. He didn't acknowledge her or even gesture for her to sit down. She stood as patiently as she could. He continued his phone conversation, "Yes, the Vegas Angel sounds perfect. Yes, the lab is involved with the funeral tomorrow…purely a show of support and sympathy for the victim." Iris lost her temper. Reaching to the phone she held the receiver button down. Ecklie was going to have to deal with her one way or another. Furious, he stood up and over her. "What in God's name do you think you're doing," he fumed.
Iris stood her ground. "The Vegas Angel? How dare you exploit the death of a brutalized child to gain some publicity for a lab that stands well on its own merits? Your efforts to get a little tabloid buzz going locally are pathetic! The media is NOT to be anywhere near Kaylee Parker's funeral tomorrow. If you make any attempt to have news cameras, reporters, helicopters or phony mourners present during the funeral or graveside services, you will have my resignation by the end of tomorrow!" With that, she whirled and stormed out, causing Nick and Warrick to applaud as well as Catherine and Sara. Grissom would have been proud, they thought. Iris didn't know it but Brass had Ellie with him as they had stopped by to visit the other CSI team personnel this morning. They too had seen Iris take on the head of the lab and that she was not afraid to stand up for what was right.