Chapter XIX
It Takes Two

When they left, Madison sat back in her chair. The detective was lovely, polite and very hard nosed about her job. The brunette though, there was something about her. Something eerie and wrong. She did not like this CSI, not one bit.

She picked up the phone and touched speed dial three, the Mayor of Las Vegas would be hearing about this. Half an hour later, slightly amused by the man's frantic apologies, she hung up her phone. She wandered down the halls of her home. It was perfect, but empty. There should have been echoes of piano practice or the laughter of young children hosting tea parties. There was not, at least not yet.

She went down stairs, to the basement level. Here, everything was just as ordered, just as perfect. On the back wall there was a window and when she looked into it, she could see them.

Her newest acquisitions, the girls that would make her life perfect. Twins, like matching bookend, Elise and Kirstin would be perfect. They were huddled together in the corner. Their blonde hair messy, their uniforms wrinkled.

Staring at their blonde locks and blue eyes reminded her of the detective, the detective made her think of the CSI. The CSI made her angry. She had accused her, had caused problems. She was a problem. A thorn in her side. A thorn that needed to be removed. She opened the door beside the window and walked in the room..

Elise was scared, not the kind of scared you got when you were lost at the mall, or during a horror movie. It was the deep bone chilling kind of scared that made her want her mother and father more then anything else in the world. It was like all the nightmares of early childhood, the boogey man, the monster in the closet, the beast under the bed, they were all real and they were in her.

The Congresswoman came back into the room. Kirstin and Elise looked at her, their blue eyes wide and scared.

"Hello girls."

Kirstin and Elise did not answer. Kirstin, unlike her sister, was not cowering in fear, she was waiting for her chance. The woman, she insisted they call her mother, came closer and she stroked their faces with her soft hands. "It's okay, girls, I'm not going to hurt you, we're family." She patted Kirstin on the head and the girl reacted. She jumped forward, tackling the other woman. "RUN ELISE!" Elise jumped to her feet, and began to scramble towards the door.

Neither girl had realized that the woman had a knife. At Kirstin's scream, Elise turned back. What she saw was horrible, terrifying and she screamed as well. Blood gushed from a deep cut in her twin's throat. Elise screamed and she felt something trickle down her leg. She's peed herself, but that didn't matter. She started backing up until her back hit the wall. Kirstin, hands over her throat, fell to her knees and then on to her face. The blood pooled beneath her, bright red. Kirstin's fingers went lax. Her twin was dead and her murderer now stood over her, a fierce look on her face. "You little bitches! You were supposed to be perfect!" Elise's chin quivered as she fought back tears. Madison Daniels stood over her, a large silver knife already wet with Kirstin's blood in her right hand. Elise closed her eyes and didn't even scream when the knife cut into the tender skin of her neck.

The room was awash in blood, again. Why couldn't she find a good little girl? She would have to wash the room down again, and her best blue silk robe was ruined. She pushed her blonde hair out of her blue eyes with a bloody hand. Now the girls needed a bath on top of everything else.
Morning dawned bright and early and the Sheriff began it by having the Mayor crawl up his ass. So as he set off to the Forensics Lab and he was not in the most charitable of moods. He crashed through the doors, almost plowing down Nick Stokes. He gave the Texan a passing glance. "All the CSIs, briefing room. Now!"

Nick stood, frozen in place. "Crap."

Conrad Ecklie had just arrived at his office and was about to boot up his computer when the Sherrif threw his door open. "ECKLIE!"

Sara was in the trace lab, trying to isolate the exact powder she'd found on the girls so far. There was so little of it that it was hard to tell exactly what it was, but God help her, she had faith in David Hodges.

When Grissom came in, she barely looked up.

Gilbert Grissom had gotten a page from Ecklie, who'd gotten a visit from the Sheriff who was currently demanding to talk to the CSIs. Sara was still at the lab, looking exhausted but determined. What got him the most, though, was that when he told her that the Sheriff was there, she didn't even seem surprised.
Catherine strutted into the meeting room. She wasn't quite sure exactly what was going on, but since they were hip deep in a high profile case, it probably wasn't for a friendly round of BINGO.

Sure enough, the Sheriff was standing there, glaring at them all. "I have got the mayor and the press breathing down my neck. Panic in the streets. Little girls are being killed and you've got nothing!" No one answered. "The Doll Collector Case is now priority, I want the entire Grave Yard Shift on it." He paused. "And if ANYONE disturbs Madison Daniels with wild accusations again. They will be out of a job." A vein throbbed in the side of his head as the Sheriff continued. "I want this case solved" He growled and threw down the morning paper. The newsprint spread across the table. In big bold letters, the headline screamed 'TWINS TAKEN BY KILLER' 'LVPD CLUELESS!' "And I wanted it solved yesterday!" He stormed out of the room and the CSIs stood in silence. Conrad Ecklie tugged at his tied, "Well you heard the man, get to work."

Sara turned to leave, but before she was out the door, she heard Ecklie clear his throat. "Not you, Sidle."

She stared at Ecklie and he stared right back. There was no one in the room but them. He put his hands on the table and turned his attention to the newspaper. "Sidle, this case has been a cluster-fuck since day one. Let me assure you that if this case goes down, you're going with it. Work the evidence and leave Madison Daniels alone."

Sara stood rigidly straight, her fists balled up. "She's a viable suspect." Ecklie shot up. "SHE IS A MEMBER OF THIS NATION'S FUCKING CONGRESS!" He shook his head, "You are walking a thin line here. Don't think Grissom can protect you from this." Sara turned to leave. "I don't want or need his protection."

Author's Note: That was a little bloody, wasn't it?