Hi everyone, I'm back with a new story. This story takes place after Grave Danger, but has nothing to do with either of my other stories. This is a completely different story. I hope all of you enjoy it and I want to thank Tefla for once being my beta. Enjoy!
It was a cool evening in the city of Las Vegas, but that didn't keep the tourists from coming out in swarms. The casinos were always hopping, however the business district was quiet.
The business district housed many different companies, one company specifically Capral Enterprise. The building, located in the Las Vegas business district, was known as headquarters. The building was quiet except for one lone man who entered through the front doors with a key. The man's name was Dustin Schultz. He was a programmer at Capral Enterprise.
Dustin was in his late twenties and had been a programmer with Capral Enterprise for five years. He was at the top of his class and was recruited to work for them right after he graduated from college.
Capral Enterprise was in the business of game development, casino games to be specific. When he was hired he thought he was working for an honest, law-abiding company, but he was mistaken. At work one day he had accidentally found out that the company was close to bankruptcy and that the CEO and Head of Security Department had stolen a copy of a new game. It was their intention of using this stolen prototype to recover their assets by creating a new and upcoming game. They had stolen the copy from their main competitor Biston International, a company famous for their games in many countries including the United States.
When Dustin learned of this he immediately went to the authorities, but was told without proof there was nothing they could do. He would have to get the proof on his own, if he wanted justice.
He made his way up to the CEO Jake Evers office, he knew from the conversation he had overheard that the disk was in there.
He walked into the large corner office, until now he had never been up there before. He had always wondered what this office would look like. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would be breaking into the CEO's office. He left the lights off for fear of being caught. He walked past the couch and tables up to the executives' desk. The desk was made from cherry wood the finest of quality.
Dustin made his way around the desk and tried to pull open the drawer, but it was locked. He looked around the desk for anything he could use to force the lock he spotted a letter opener. He grabbed the letter opener and with finesse he didn't know he had was able to unlock the desk.
He opened the first drawer only to find various folders, a stapler, and a pair of scissors, paperclips and other odds and ends. He opened the second drawer and hit the jackpot he had found the disk. He closed the drawer, but didn't attempt to hide the fact that he was there. He would regret that decision later.
He took off his right shoe and opened the heel by sliding it, he snickered to himself, this reminded him of the James Bond movies he used to watch growing up. The disk fit in his heel perfectly he closed the heel and put his shoe back on.
He slowly made his way back down to the lobby and looked around the corner to find the guard still away. He had been watching the guards for a number of weeks tracking their movements and to make sure he entered the building when they were on their rounds. He quickly walked to the exit and left the building. Little did he know that he had been spotted and identified by one of the guards.
The guard promptly picked up the phone and dialed the head of the security department.
"Mr. Harris, this is Officer Sanchez from security I'm sorry to bother you at such a late hour, but I thought you'd want to know that we had an unauthorized entry in the building."
Robert Harris was the Head of the Security Department and reported directly to Jake Evers the CEO. He knew an unauthorized entry could mean almost anything.
"It's no problem Officer Sanchez…Can you identify the person?"
"Yes sir it was Dustin Schultz."
Harris closed his eyes and hoped that it was something simple, but he found that nothing was ever simple. However, complicated never bothered him either. He was known for getting the unthinkable done and no one ever asked how he did it.
"O.K. Thanks I'll be in shortly."
"Yes sir…we'll be waiting for you."
Harris hung up the phone and got out of bed. He was a single man; in his line of business it wasn't good to have a family.
It took twenty minutes to get dressed and drive into the office. Once there he didn't like what he found. He skimmed the security tapes and followed Dustin everywhere he had gone, without Dustin's knowledge.
Capral Enterprise had the best cameras and were well hidden. They covered the stairwells and elevators as well as the lobby and hallway going up to the CEO's office. However, there were no cameras in the CEO's office for both privacy and legal reasons.
The cameras followed Dustin into Evers office. Harris knew there were no cameras allowed in there so he walked up to the office himself. What he found he didn't like. The large cherry wood desk had obviously been broken into. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and dialed Evers.
"Hello."
"Mr. Evers, this is Harris we have a problem."
"What sort of problem?"
"You know that project you're working on."
"Yes."
"Well someone broke into your office this evening and stole it."
"Who?"
"Dustin Schultz."
Evers wasn't happy about the news. He too was single, but had a number of lady friends that visited every once in awhile. Tonight, however, he was alone. He got out of bed and walked over to his scotch decanter and poured himself a drink.
"Dustin Schultz has become a liability. I don't care what you do Harris, but take care of it and get that disk back. You know what we went through to get that disk; I will not let such a valuable object be stolen from me. Keep me informed." With that said he hung up his phone and took a large sip of his scotch and sat down on a nearby chair.
Dustin Schultz lived in the low end of town though he did make a fair amount of money working for Capral, but with student loans he was forced to live this way until all debts were paid.
His apartment building was an old building from the forties. The building itself was run down. The brick that surrounded it was cracking here and there. There were some broken windows that had been boarded up on the various floors. Though the building itself was old Dustin grew to like and become friends with the people in the neighborhood. They all looked out for each other. In fact they had recently started a neighborhood watch program and so far it had been very successful. Just because people were poor didn't mean they weren't law-abiding.
The building itself did not have a parking lot, so Dustin usually parked his car directly across the street. Most people didn't have cars in the neighborhood so there was plenty of parking.
He pulled into his usual spot and looked around for anything suspicious. He took a deep breath. He was almost home free. As soon as he got into his apartment he would call his contact at the Police Department.
He put his car in park, got out and slammed the door shut. He started to cross the street and just as he was half way across a black truck came speeding down the street. Dustin looked up just in time to see the truck barreling at him. He didn't have time to jump out of the way. His lanky body hit and rolled over the hood. He crashed into the windshield and then violently fell to the ground.
After Harris spoke with Evers he figured that Dustin Schultz would probably go to the place he felt the safest, his home. He called two of his most trusted men.
Harris had two kinds of staff - the law-abiding that worked at the company and had no idea what he did on the side and the other was just like him. They would do what they were paid to do and at that moment it was to get rid of Dustin Schultz.
Harris and his men had waited in a darkened area of the street when they saw Dustin pull up and park. Harris had perked up as soon as he spotted Dustin. They watched as Dustin exited his car.
"O.K. this is him."
The black truck roared to life as the ignition was turned. They slowly pulled out of their parking spot and quickly sped up. Dustin was just in the middle of the street when they hit him head on. They saw Dustin roll over the hood and crash into the windshield and as the truck gained speed he fell to the ground.
Harris turned around to see if Schultz was dead, but he saw him move an arm.
"He's still alive, turn this thing around. We need to finish him off."
But before they could turn the truck around, the violent act and the screeching tires had awakened the neighborhood and soon the streets were littered with Dustin's neighbors.
"Let's get out of here. We'll have to finish the job at the hospital."
The truck raced down the street as sirens neared the area. The body of Dustin Schultz grew smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror as they got further and further away.
It was the beginning of the shift at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. CSI 3 Nick Stokes wandered towards the break room. He secretly hoped that Greg had beat him in. The reason being when Greg was in a good mood he would make the shift a pot of his nice Hawaiian blend coffee. It was aromatic and potent; both worked well for the nightshift CSIs. If Greg didn't come in early then there usually was a black gooey liquid in the coffee pot left over from the previous shift.
As Nick entered the break room he found the newest member of the team Greg Sanders sitting at the break table reading a copy of Rolling Stone Magazine. Nick looked over at the coffee pot and noticed it percolating. He looked up the sky and said a silent thank-you.
"Hey Greggo…is that your special Hawaiian blend I smell?" He asked as he walked into the break room.
Greg looked up from his magazine when he heard his name. "Hey Nick…yep that's my special blend."
"What's the occasion? Not that I'm complaining or anything?"
Greg smiled, " Well I figured since tonight is your last night before you leave on your vacation I thought I'd give you a nice send off."
"Wow…thanks Greg. I should go on vacation more often."
"Just don't let it go to your head." Greg said with a smile.
Nick laughed at Greg's remark.
"I won't…I appreciate the thought." He said grabbing a coffee cup then going for the pot.
"Hold on there Nick." Greg said getting up from the table.
A puzzled Nick watched Greg make his way over to him.
"I said I made the coffee for you, but I still get the first cup." Greg said as he snatched the cup out of Nick's hand and poured himself a cup. Nick chuckled as Greg sat back down.
Nick had just poured himself a cup when the rest of the team made their way into the break room. Sara Sidle, the dark haired brunette led the pack. The tall, dark and green-eyed Warrick Brown followed her in and bringing up the rear was the graceful, yet firm, Catherine Willows.
Both Nick and Greg looked to the door as the group shuffled in. Warrick noticed the coffee pot.
"Now that's what I'm talking about…Greg you da man." Warrick said with a big smile plastered on his face.
"Yea Greg thanks for the coffee." Catherine replied.
"You are welcome."
"What's the occasion?" Sara asked.
"Well Nick's last day is today and he'll be off on vacation so I thought I'd give him a nice send off."
"Oh yea that's right." Warrick replied. "And you came in! Why didn't you call in sick? That's what I usually do." Warrick kept talking.
"I'll remember that next time you are scheduled for vacation Warrick." Grissom said from the doorway.
Warrick squirmed then turned to face Grissom, "Just joking of course Grissom."
"Of course Warrick."
Nick and Greg both had smiles plastered on their faces and received a death glare from Warrick, which made them smile even more.
"Well Nick sorry, but your last evening before your vacation isn't going to be a quiet one. Here." Grissom handed him a slip of paper. "You and Sara will be taking care of a B & E over at the Motor Werks Company. In the morning just pass all of your stuff to Sara and she will take the case from there."
"Sure thing Grissom." He took the slip looked at it then handed it to Sara.
"Warrick and Catherine you guys have a DB over at the Little Vegas Miniature Golf Course."
Catherine took the slip from Grissom, "Hmm…I've been there before with Lindsey…nice course."
Grissom turned to look at Greg. "Greg I need you in the lab today. Mia called in sick and her backup is on vacation."
"Sure…No problem."
"Thanks. O.K. that's it people."
"What about you?" Catherine asked.
Grissom held up a piece of paper. "I have my own DB. If you need me you can either reach via my cell or pager. Everyone be safe."
With that said he turned around and quickly walked out. Catherine, Warrick and Greg stood.
"Later guys." And both of them walked out.
"Well I'm off to the lab. I'll catch you later."
"Bye Greg," they both said.
Sara looked at Nick just as he finished his coffee.
"Ready to go?" She asked.
"Yep let's hit it." He said standing up. Just as he got all the way he suddenly received a sharp pain in his side, it took his breath away and he grabbed hold of the chair he had been sitting on. Sara stood quickly and walked over to him.
"Nick are you O.K?"
As quickly as the pain had come it was now gone. He stood up straight and looked at Sara with a smile.
"Yea I'm fine. I must have pulled a muscle during my workout this evening. Shall we get going?" He said as he motioned to the door.
"If you say so."
The two CSIs left the break room and headed to their B&E.
Whew! I swear the first chapter is always the hardest chapter. As usual if you noticed with my stories the first chapter is always setup. Please review and let me know what you think so far. Depending on the reviews we'll see how fast I spurt out another chapter.