Hello everyone,
Here I am again still sick sniffs then coughs darn colds. AH! Thanks for all of the well wishes and the reviews and the being kind to me for not updating for so long (yes Tefla I know a run on sentence - tee hee). Hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Grissom answered the phone and turned away from both Brass and Archie. He could feel their penetrating stares on his back and turned around to face them.
"Grissom."
"Gil … it's Conrad. I'm just calling for a status report."
Grissom was relieved that it was Conrad, but he would never admit that out loud. It only meant that Archie had more time to break the encryption and they could still interrogate Carl.
"Conrad …" Grissom could see the look of relief in Brass's eyes as well. They had a small reprieve. "No we haven't heard from them yet. In fact I thought it may have been them calling."
"Sorry. Why don't you call me on my cell from a different phone. I need to know what's going on. The sheriff is going to start asking questions soon and I want to have some answers."
"I understand Conrad. I'll call you back in five."
The CSI hung up his cell phone just as Greg entered the room. He stopped abruptly when he saw both Brass and Grissom in the room with Archie. A look of confusion briefly flickered in Greg's eyes, but it soon disappeared.
"Did I miss something? Weren't you two on your way over to interrogation?"
Brass and Grissom looked at each other with a smile. It was Grissom who replied to the younger CSI, "No you didn't miss anything Greg. Jim suggested that I put a trace on my phone. So when they call about Nick we can hopefully trace it."
"Oh."
"I'm going to go over to my office and call Ecklie back. If you find anything, and I mean anything come and get me."
"You got it."
Grissom looked past Greg and over to Brass, "Jim are you coming?"
The detective walked up to Grissom and stopped a few feet short, "I was thinking that while you call Ecklie, I'll go and get Carl and bring him down to interrogation. Once you are done with Ecklie you can meet me in there."
"Good idea. I'll meet you there in about five minutes."
Grissom turned and headed to his small, crowded office. When people walked into Gil Grissom's office they were usually freaked out, but the more you knew Grissom the less freaked out you were. This was who he was. He took comfort in the insects around him. They didn't talk back and they didn't have to be handled a certain way.
The right side of his office was covered with pictures and shadowy boxes containing some beautifully displayed butterflies. The left hand side of his office contained bookshelves from floor to ceiling, all filled with various sorts of books. Anything from various entomology books to Shakespeare. If anything … Gil Grissom was certainly a well-rounded person.
His desk sat in the middle of the office. At the moment it looked like someone had driven a forklift in and dumped piles and piles of paper on top of it. He inwardly sighed to himself. Grissom sat down behind the big mound of paper and attempted to look for the phone that was now buried. After a brief minute or two he finally found it. It took him another minute or so to locate Ecklie's number. That was one number that he didn't memorize on purpose. He tried to avoid Ecklie at all costs. Though it did seem like Ecklie was getting a little better with things. Perhaps he would give Ecklie another chance. Suddenly a picture of Nick flashed in his head … he hoped that he would get a second chance as well.
He picked up the phone and dialed the director's phone number. Ecklie answered in one ring.
"Ecklie."
"Conrad, it's Gil."
"Thanks for getting back to me. So … can you tell me where we stand? Have you heard from Nick's captors yet?"
Grissom leaned back in his chair to get comfortable, "Well right now we are going to be bringing in Carl Stenson for questioning. We think he had something to do with Nick's kidnapping."
"Carl Stenson from ballistics? How on earth did you come up with this one Gil?"
"We found both DNA and print evidence that he was in Nick's house … plus he was also the last one seen with the witness before she disappeared." He grimaced after saying that last sentence. He knew that once Ecklie heard that a witness was lost, he would go ballistic.
"What? … You lost a witness! How in the hell did that happen? You better have a good explanation for this Gil."
"The witness was left with an officer during one of our meetings. During that time Carl Stenson spilled coffee on the officer. The officer left for only a minute or so. At that time we think Carl either forced or tricked her to go to the parking lot with him."
"Gil, why wasn't I notified of this earlier?"
"Conrad it happened less than an hour ago. I just haven't had the chance to call you."
"The proper procedure …"
Grissom interrupted Ecklie, "Look Conrad I'm sorry if your ego got hurt. But I have two people missing and I'm more concerned about finding them than I am about your feelings right now. If you are still interested I can finish telling you what we have."
"Fine. Please continue."
"As I was saying we found both DNA and prints matching to Carl Stenson. We also found out that Carl has the same 'pit bull' tattoo as the killer. Greg did some digging up and only one small group of marines has that tattoo. We think Carl is working with the man that grabbed Nick and who also killed Dustin Schultz."
"The Dustin Schultz case is closed Gil … remember? Warrick killed Dustin Schultz's murderer."
"No Conrad … he didn't. When I spoke with Nick earlier he said that with the 'supposed killer' dead … they never looked at the disk."
"And?"
"Conrad he said with the 'supposed killer dead' he was telling me that he was with the real killer."
"That's a long shot Gil. You don't have any evidence to support that. Do you?"
"Yes I do. After speaking with Nick I came back to the lab and looked at the autopsy pictures from the killer. The 'pit bull tattoo' was on his left arm. When I read Nick's statement he told us that it was on the right arm. So Dustin Schultz's killer is still alive and he has both Nick and Erin Matthews."
"Gil, how could you miss something this important?"
The words stung when Grissom heard them. He knew he was having problems with this case and now Ecklie knew as well. He wasn't at his best and Nick was going to suffer for it. He tried to come up with one of his famous quotations, but nothing came to mind except admitting the truth.
"I don't know Conrad. What I do know is that Nick is in danger because of me."
There was silence on the other side. Grissom knew what was going through Ecklie's mind. Should he keep him on the case or not? He knew that if he were in Ecklie's position that he would pull the him off the case.
"Look I'm expecting a call from Nick's captor's they want the disk that we have. Archie Johnson is currently trying to decrypt it. He says that he's close. Brass is going to pull in Carl for an interrogation. Just give me four more hours before you pull me from this case."
"How'd you know?"
"Honestly … because I would to the exact same thing, but all I'm asking is four more hours. Then I will recluse myself from the case providing we haven't come up with more conclusive evidence."
Once again silence plagued the phone then Grissom heard a long sigh, "OK Gil, four hours. But as you said, if you come up with more conclusive evidence then I won't pull you. But … I expect to be notified as soon as you hear or find out anything. Understood."
"Completely. Thanks Conrad."
"Don't mention and don't make me regret it."
"Conrad, when have I ever made you regret anything?"
"You don't want me to honestly answer that do you?"
Grissom thought about it for a minute, "No I guess not. I'm going to head over to interrogation to see what's going on with Carl. I will call you when we are finished."
"Talk to you then."
The CSI hung up the phone and raced out of his office and over to the interrogation room.
When Jim Brass left Grissom, he made his way down the long corridor and into the ballistics lab. Carl Stenson was crouched over a microscope comparing two bullets. The ballistics technician looked up with a smile at the homicide detective.
"Captain Brass what brings you in here? I don't believe I'm working on anything for you at the moment."
Brass didn't smile back at the ballistics technician. What he wanted to do would put him behind bars. The two officers that he called before he stepped into the lab had finally arrived and found their way into the small room. The three unexpected guests caught Carl by surprise.
The detective could see the sudden onslaught of nervousness in Carl's eyes. "So Carl, something tells me that the Las Vegas Crime Lab isn't your only employer. Would you like to elaborate on that?"
Carl took two steps back but remained silent. Now he knew how Nick must have felt when he was cornered. The jig was up. He had been so careful. How did they find out it was him? Well … he was trained to handle interrogation. There would be no way that he was going to break.
"Ah … the silent type. My favorite." Brass said with a smirk. "Carl if you would please come with us. Now remember I said please."
The cornered man only hesitated for a moment before he allowed the officers to escort him out of the ballistics lab.
As Brass watched the officers escort the suspect out of the room he was relieved that they didn't have problems. This room was the ballistics lab. It had both guns and bullets and everyone knows that when you put the two together it can be deadly. He was glad that Carl hadn't put up a fight. He took one more calming breath before following the three men into the interrogation room.
The two officers pushed Carl down into a chair just as Brass walked into the interrogation room.
"What's this about Captain Brass? Do I need a lawyer? Are you questioning me on a current case?" Carl flooded the detective with questions. He wanted to see if Brass would buy into the innocent act.
Brass sized up the man in front of him. If Greg's research was correct than the man in front of him was trained for this type of thing. So no matter what he did or say he wasn't sure if he was going to get any cooperation. He was just about to start the questioning when he heard a knock at the window. He knew Grissom was on his way. So when the door opened, and Grissom came in and sat down, he wasn't surprised.
Grissom had left his office after he spoke with Ecklie and headed right to interrogation. He hoped that he didn't miss anything. He walked up to the window and looked in to see Carl sitting across the table from Brass. There were two officers standing in front of the door. Grissom knocked on the window to announce his presence. He then walked in and sat down next to Brass.
He looked over to Brass expectantly. He knew that he didn't have to say anything and that Brass would know what Grissom was asking.
"We were just getting started."
"Oh good … then I didn't miss anything."
Carl looked over at Grissom and still played the innocent victim, "Grissom what's going on here? Captain Brass just came into the lab and brought me here. He didn't say what this was about. Is this concerning one of your cases? Did you need my help?"
Grissom observed the man in front of him, "Yes Carl. This is concerning one of my cases and I do need your help."
"Sure what do you need?"
"Information."
"Information …what kind of information?"
"I would like to know why we found your fingerprints and hair at Nick's place." He looked at Carl expectantly.
The suspect smiled, "Well that's obvious isn't it?"
"No it isn't. Why don't you enlighten us?" Brass suggested.
"Nick and I are friends. It's only natural that my prints are at his house. I've been over there a few times to watch a game or two and have a beer."
"Is that so?" Grissom responded.
"Yea … that's so."
"Well then Carl if you have been over to Nick's house a few times, why is it that we only found one of your prints there and not more? I mean if you were so close to Nick and have been over there a few times I would imagine that your prints would be everywhere. For instance the refrigerator door perhaps or maybe a coffee table. Care to elaborate?"
"Hey man I can't explain it. Maybe Nick cleans real good. I don't know."
"Well I'm going to tell you what I know." Brass said. "Your print was found underneath one of Nick's overturned end tables. Interesting place for a fingerprint, don't you think?"
Carl remained silent.
It was Grissom's turn to speak back up, "Well Carl, upon inspecting the table, the only way the fingerprint could get there was if you were to flip over that table."
"Now let me guess: you dropped the remote control and in looking under the table you accidentally flipped it over right?" Brass said sarcastically waiting for an answer.
"Wait a minute. You don't actually think I had anything to do with Nick's kidnapping?"
"That's exactly what we were thinking Carl." Brass retorted.
"Man … you've got it all wrong." 'I should win an Emmy,' he said to himself.
"Look Carl, you can cut the crap. We know about your military background and that you have had extensive training in interrogation."
Carl for once was shocked. How did these men know about his military background? It was supposed to be classified.
"That's supposed to be classified."
"Well it is. Thanks for confirming it for us." Brass said with a triumphant smirk.
The phone on Grissom's belt began to ring he picked it up and looked at the caller display it read 'Blocked'. He looked over to Brass, stood up and left the room.
Carl could tell by the look on Grissom face that Harris had just called him. He would be expecting a call from Harris once he was finished speaking with Grissom.
Nick watched as Harris put the phone to his ear. It was his hope that he would be given a chance to speak with Grissom even if it was only a minute or two. He was still trying to figure out what he was going to say and then it came to him. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Harris speak.
"I trust you have the disk in your possession."
Grissom walked into the hallway and went straight to the A/V lab. As soon as he walked in both occupants turned to face him.
"It's him. Start the trace."
Archie got up and ran over to the computer and hit a few keys. "OK … you are good to go."
Grissom flipped his phone up and placed it to his ear, "Grissom."
"I trust you have the disk in your possession."
"Yes I do. I also trust that Nick is still alive as you said."
"Oh yes Mr. Grissom. Mr. Stokes is doing rather well." Harris replied as he grabbed Nick's bandaged leg.
"Ahhh!"
Grissom could hear the man mocking Nick in the phone, "Oops sorry Nick, didn't mean to do that. I bet that hurt."
Grissom finally found his voice, "Hey … leave him alone!"
"What's that Mr. Grissom?"
"You heard me leave him along. I have what you want." Grissom looked over to Archie to see if they had enough for a trace. Archie shook his head no. "But before I say anything more about it I want to talk to Nick."
"Need I remind you Mr. Grissom that you are in no position to make demands."
"Look all I want to do is talk to Nick to find out if he's alright. After that I will leave the disk wherever you want it."
"I'm usually the one that's making the demands Mr. Grissom. I will make an acceptation this one time since you have what I want and I have what you want."
Nick watched the one-sided exchange and it sounded like Harris was going to allow him to speak with Grissom. He tried to hold back his emotion. He was afraid that if Harris saw how much he wanted to speak with Grissom he might not allow him to.
Harris turned and faced Nick. He grabbed him by the hair again and forced the CSI to look him straight in the face. Nick wished he'd stop doing that.
"Now Mr. Stokes you will be ever so careful with what you say or it may be your last conversation ever. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes."
Grissom heard ever word that the man had said to Nick. It made him cringe that Nick was in the hands of this madman. He waited for Nick to come on.
Harris placed the phone to Nick's ear. Nick looked at Harris for permission to start talking he got it with a nod.
"Grissom you there?"
"Nick, are you OK?"
"Not really Griss."
"What did he do to you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes Nick it matters. We found a lot of blood at your house."
"They shot me in the leg, but Erin was able to patch it up."
"Erin … Erin Matthews?"
"Yes. Look Grissom I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I ever disappointed you.
"Nick … why are you saying that." Then the realization hit him. "He's going to kill you as soon as he gets the disk."
"Yes."
Well there you go. I hoped you liked it. Please review and see you next chapter.