Chapter 3

Warrick and Nick were on their way to a crime scene. Somewhere on the outskirts of Vegas, a couple had met an untimely end and Warrick and Nick had to find out how. It was a rare rainy night in Vegas, so Warrick was concentrating on his driving when his cell phone rang.

"Can you answer that?" Warrick requested.

Nick picked up the cell phone. "Warrick's phone," he answered it.

"Why hello Warrick's phone," the woman's voice replied. "Is Warrick available?"

"I don't know. Let me check. May I tell him who's calling?" Nick said in his best secretarial voice. Warrick rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Tell him it's Star, but if he's busy it's not a big deal," she responded, trying to stifle a laugh at Nick's cheesy voice.

Nick covered the mic with his hand and looked at Warrick. "It's Star," he informed Warrick with a smile. "But she says if you're busy it's not a big deal."

Warrick tried to suppress the smile creeping across his lips then furrowed his brow. He could tell Nick was suspicious. He wanted Nick to hear their conversation to know that it was on the up and up. "Tell her as long as it's ok if she's on speaker phone, I can talk to her."

Star, who'd heard Warrick's statement, answered before Nick could say anything. "That's cool."

Nick hit the buttons to put the phone on speaker.

"What's up, Star?" Warrick asked.

"Sorry to bother you," she started. "I've just got this song stuck in my head and I can't get it quite right."

"Play me what you've got," Warrick told her. He was used to this routine by now. For the last month or so, they had been working on some songs together, throwing ideas off of one another. This wasn't the first time Star had called to play him a tune and ask for some help.

Warrick had dismissed the idea of writing with Star at the beginning, but fate had different plans. The two of them ran into each other several times during the week that followed their lunch. The first time was at a Las Vegas police station. Star was there to file a report because her bicycle was stolen. Warrick was there to sit in on a perp interview. They ran into each other in the hall and said a brief hello.

The second time they ran into each other was less than 24 hours later. Warrick drove across town to pick up some food from Tina's favorite Chinese restaurant. Star, on the recommendation of her brother, had ordered take-out from the same place. This time their exchange was cut short by a call from Tina. She wanted to make sure Warrick had gotten the order correct.

A couple of days later, they ran into each other a third time—and this time Warrick took it as a sign maybe he shouldn't be blowing her off. This time, Warrick and Tina were at a club. It was a rare night where they both didn't have to work. Warrick had gone up to the bar to get the pair some drinks when he felt the tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the smiling Star.

At first he almost didn't recognize her. Up until that moment, he had only ever seen her in jeans and a t-shirt, with a clean face and hair in a ponytail. But that night, she had her hair in two buns towards the back of her head with hair sticking out all around them like flowers. She had on black eye liner and lipstick with glitter eye shadow. In place of her jeans, she was wearing skin-tight leather pants; her Vans replaced with stilettos. Her usually loose t-shirt had shrunk into a deep red baby tee that accentuated her curves. She definitely wasn't 16, but she was only 23.

"Are you following me?" she playfully inquired.

He laughed. "Not that I'm aware of."

His expression told her volumes in critique of her current attire. "I like to experiment with my appearance. Tonight, I'm semi-Goth." She explained, and then let out a laugh. "You hate it?"

"No, it's just very…different," he answered truthfully. "You look…good."

She blushed; he seemed to have that power over her. "You know, you could just set a time to meet with me. That way, maybe we'd quit running into each other," she added, still smiling.

And Warrick agreed. A couple of days later Warrick found some free time and they started writing music together.

"First, is your secretary trustworthy?" she playfully asked, bringing Warrick back to the present. "I don't want him stealing my stuff!"

Nick laughed. "Ma'am, all I can play is a CD."

Star smiled, knowing they couldn't see it. "Well, you've at least got to tell me your name so I know who to come after…"

At her statement Warrick realized he hadn't introduced Nick. "This is Nick Stokes," Warrick informed her. "He's another CSI."

"Hi Star," Nick said.

"Hi Nick," Star replied. Then, as it dawned on her she added, "You're on your way to a scene aren't you? Is it really that late?"

"Yeah, Star, it is. It's almost one," Warrick responded.

"Damn. No sleep for me tonight. Well, anyway, here goes." Star played the piano while she sung a few lines. After about two minutes she stopped.

"It's that end part I don't like and I don't know what to do for the bridge," she told Warrick.

Warrick thought for a moment and them hummed some music that matched what Star had played. "What about that?" he asked.

She mimicked on the keyboard what Warrick had hummed. "Like that?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Warrick answered.

Nick was amazed at Star's ability to turn something Warrick hummed into an actual song. "That was really good."

"Thanks," Star had already forgotten Nick was there. She wondered how she made it through the day sometimes.

"Are you single?" Nick questioned, only half-serious.

Warrick shot him a dirty look. Nick just grinned. Star could only imagine the non-verbal exchange that was going on. She knew Warrick had feelings for her; she just didn't know if they were brotherly feelings or romantic ones.

"Unfortunately," she replied.

Nick laughed again at her sarcasm. "Well, maybe I can change that. Can I call you sometime?"

If the look Warrick shot him before was dirty, this one was pure evil. Nick didn't notice.

Star was stunned. She hadn't expected this. "Sure!" she answered and rattled off her phone number.

"Well, I should try and get some sleep," she told the two men. "I do have class tomorrow. Goodnight!" And she hung up before either of them could say anything else.

"Class?" Nick questioned, slightly worried. "She's still in school?"

Warrick rolled his eyes and almost told him yes. "She's a teacher."

Nick could sense the discomfort in Warrick's voice. "Look, if you don't want me going out with her…"

Warrick thought for a moment, but he couldn't find any good reason Nick shouldn't ask her out. His only reasons revolved around his feelings, but he wasn't about to admit them. Plus, he was married and had no right to them. "It's cool. She's a friend's sister, so you'd better be a gentleman."

"I would never be anything but," Nick responded, his smile returning. He was looking forward to calling her.