Nick slept and didn't have any more dreams. When his alarm went off he slowly opened his eyes and shut it off. He sighed and rolled over, the remnants of last night's dream still lurking in his memory. He made his way to his bathroom and started the hot water. He stood under the streaming hot water and told himself that he couldn't let this case get to him; he couldn't let the killer get to him. He turned off the water and headed to his closet to get dressed for his shift. He dressed and made his way to his kitchen for a cup of coffee. He took a peek out of the front living room window and spotted the unmarked sedan with a different cop sitting behind the wheel. He finished his coffee and locked up before heading to his truck.

Nick made his way to the locker room and sat before his locker. He was early for his shift and the quiet was soothing to his frayed nerves. The quiet was interrupted by Warrick sitting next to him.

"Hey Nick, how are you?" Warrick put a hand on Nick's shoulder and squeezed.

"I'm good, feeling better." Nick smiled that 100 watt smile and shut his locker door. He stood and Warrick followed him out of the locker room. He didn't believe Nick was doing better, but he knew now wasn't the time to push the subject. When the time came if he needed to he would push the subject.

They made their way to the break room and met up with Greg and his special blend of coffee. Tonight promised to be a long shift and they had a lot of ground to cover. Each CSI took out his notes and files and they got started. Hoping that would find the answer to the killer's identity before he struck again.

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Carl had watched his newest victim for about four hours from his car and then from the neighbor's yard when he realized that they were gone. He watched her make dinner and a have a glass of wine before settling down at her dining room table to work on pile of files spread across the table top. He watched her get ready for bed, her bedroom was on the ground floor and he could see through her window as she set her alarm for seven. He took note of this, wondering if this was a regular time for her to be up or not.

She had stayed home today, but she did have an office downtown, he had found it in the phone book. He had called asking for her and the receptionist had told him that she was out for the day but expected in the morning. He would continue to watch her for a few more days to see if she had a regular pattern before he would strike. He took out his digital camera and took a picture of her front door, making sure to place his thumb just enough in the picture to obscure the address. He would send the picture to Nick with his next letter and then watch him squirm. He grinned and silently made his way back to his car.

He drove to his apartment, he ditched the hotel room when he got the job with the cable company and hooked up his camera to his computer. This time he would type the note on the computer, he liked to switch the note writing up a little. Before he had always written the notes by hand, but the CSI in New Mexico had come very close to nailing him so he started typing his notes. He thought that was part of the reason she had quit, she almost had him and then he outsmarted her and slipped away. He had kept tabs on her and found that she moved to Virginia and was teaching the cadets at Quantico about Forensic Science. Every so often he sent her a post card to let her know he was still around.

The picture from the camera popped up on his screen. He pulled out latex gloves and snapped them on. He took out a second pair and pulled them over the first pair. He liked to be careful with his work, didn't want to leave any useable prints. He loaded the photo paper into the printer and printed it out. He then typed a quick note and placed both into an envelope, similar to a greeting card envelope. He wrote Nick Stokes across the front in large black letters and set it aside. He removed the gloves and jotted down some notes about his latest victim as he hummed quietly to himself. His next step would be to watch her during her work day which he would do tomorrow during his work day. He wanted to know if she was dating anyone or if anyone had any interest in her, it made it that much easier to get away with what he did.

He also jotted down the license plate number of the unmarked sedan outside of Nick's house and a description of the driver. He had memorized both so that he could lookout for the undercover detective watching Nick's house. He knew there were at least two others watching the house, but he wasn't sure if it would remain the same three or if it would switch. He didn't want to get caught while leaving his gift for Nick; he was taking a risk by leaving the envelope at his home tomorrow. He would leave the envelope and then head over to the next house pretending to be lost.

When he was finished he went into the first bedroom and undressed. He needed to get some sleep before he went to work. He would drop his newest gift for Nick at his house, during the day while he was working. He had an install two houses down so he had to be in the area anyway. He smiled and set his alarm.

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Nick, Warrick, and Greg had gone over everything they had and realized that they weren't any closer to solving the case than they were before. Greg stretched and made his way down the corridor to the restroom and Warrick paced back and forth while Nick lay on the couch.

"We're missing something Nick, there has to be something that we're just not seeing." Warrick continued to pace back and forth and Nick threw his arm over his eyes. He was tired and his head hurt. Warrick's pacing was just causing him to become dizzy.

"I don't know what it is Rick, we've been through the files three times now, whatever it is we're missing isn't going to just jump out at us." Nick sighed and sat up to find Warrick had finally sat down at the table and was now staring into space.

Greg made his way back into the room and plopped next to Nick and leaned back. The younger man settled back into the cushions and yawned.

"So I guess we haven't figured out who the bad guy is." Greg smiled and looked at Warrick and then at Nick.

"No, we haven't Greggo." Nick yawned and then moved to the break room table to start looking over the files again.

Greg stood and poured himself a cup of coffee and sat next to Warrick to start on his pile again.

Five minutes had passed when Greg paused and spoke. "Hey, did you guys notice that in any of your cases each victim had someone come over to do their yard work?"

"Yard work?" Warrick asked in surprise.

"Yeah, all of the victims from Oklahoma City had someone come out from Happy Gardening to do yard work." Greg looked up from his files.

"Well, none of the victims from New Mexico had any yard work done; they did however have a plumber out, all from the same company in Albuquerque." Nick looked his stack to Greg and then to Warrick.

"All of the victims from New Orleans had someone out to repair their roof." Warrick too looked surprised.

"Wait a minute, the last two victims in Oklahoma had cable installed just before they were killed." Greg began to write notes furiously as Nick and Warrick also looked through their files.

"I'm just seeing the plumber in the New Mexico files." Nick answered as he continued.

"Yeah, just the roofing jobs in the New Orleans files." Warrick stacked the files into a neat pile and took out his notepad.

"We have one common thread; each of the victims had a service repair man of some type visit their homes anywhere from a week to a few days before they died. This is how he selects his victims." Warrick theorized to the group.

"What does he do after he chooses his victim? He stalks them." Nick answered his own question and then looked for confirmation from Greg and Warrick.

"He stalks them, maybe for a few days, in some cases he may stalk them for longer until he gets their routine down. Then he waits for the victim to come home and he strikes." Warrick continued with theory as the three began to put it together.

"What about the note he sent Nick?" Greg asked worriedly.

"That's part of the game for him. The detective I talked to in New Orleans said his partner started getting letters and then photos from this guy." Warrick shook his head in disgust.

"Yeah, the detective in Albuquerque said the same thing. One of their CSI's started getting letters and pictures. From what she told me the CSI came pretty close to cracking the case." Nick took a sip of his cooling coffee and then sat in quiet thought.

"None of the other cities were able to get anything from the stuff the killer sent them." Greg stood and stretched and then dumped his cold coffee for a new cup.

"Yeah, but we're the best." Warrick grinned and walked to the sink to dump his coffee. "I don't know about you two, but I'm beat and the shift is almost over. Let's go home and start again tonight."

"Sounds good. See y'all later." Nick stood, gathered his files and then took off down the corridor.

"See you tonight Warrick." Greg turned and followed Nick out.

Warrick cracked his back and then headed towards the locker room. He was looking forward to his bed.

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Carl had woken up early and headed to work. He picked up his assignments and headed to the first home. After an hour installation he headed out to Nick's neighborhood. He had an install down the block from Nick's home. He pulled the van to a halt before Nick's door, slipped on the latex gloves and then the work gloves he carried in his glove box. He put the envelope on the clipboard and stepped down from the van. He made a show of looking at the addresses on each house and then walking to Nick's door. He stood directly in front of the door and quickly placed the envelope in the crack of the door.

He looked behind him and saw the undercover detective was engrossed in a magazine of some kind, a cup of coffee on the dash board. He stepped away from the door and then stopped in front of the house next door and made a show of checking his clipboard. Then he shook his head as he were confused and pulled out his cell phone and dialed his home number. The machine picked up and he spoke into the phone, having a one sided conversation on his machine. From the corner of his eye he saw the detective look up and watch him for a few minutes before losing interest. He laughed into his machine and hung up. He jumped into his van drove a block over to install a basic cable package.

Carl finished the install and drove by Nick's house on his way out of the neighborhood, the envelope was still in the crack of the door and the undercover cop was still reading his magazine. Carl chuckled to himself as he thought about the detective explaining to his boss why he hadn't seen the person who left the envelope.

He drove to Karen's work place and over his lunch break watched her and an older looking man share lunch in a café around the corner from her office. The two spent the hour laughing and cuddling while Carl took mental notes. Now that he knew she was at least flirting with someone it would be easy to place the blame on someone else. The couple finished and at the entrance of the café parted ways, Karen heading back to her office and the older man making his way to his Lexus parked down the street. He watched for a little longer and then drove off to his next install.

Carl finished his work day and returned home to change clothes and exchange the van for the SUV he had traded his car in for. He drove to Karen's neighborhood and found a secluded spot to park about a block from the house. He quickly made his way to the spot he had the day before making sure that the neighbors weren't home and settled down to watch. Within ten minutes Karen pulled into driveway and unlocked the front door. Carl made a mental note to remember that she didn't seem to use the garage and that he would need to come up behind her as she unlocked the door, much like he had done with Lisa.

The next three hours went by and Carl watched Karen pour a glass of wine and make dinner for herself. She watched television and took a phone call. It was now 9 p.m. and Nick would be starting his shift soon. He wanted to be there to see him retrieve his gift. Carl took one last look the window and then made his way back to his SUV.

Twenty minutes later found Carl sitting two houses down watching the undercover officer stationed outside of Nick's house. He noticed that it was a different detective, but this detective appeared to be doing his job unlike his counter part this morning. Carl slipped out of the SUV and stayed within the shadows as he neared Nick's house. He came to the driveway of Nick's neighbor and quietly eased along the wall of the garage. From here he had a clear view of Nick's front door and the white envelope stuck in the door jamb. He was in for a long wait so he hunkered down and waited.

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Nick's cell phone rang at 9:30 and he groaned. He had half an hour of sleep left and the phone had startled him awake. He opened one eye and peeked at the caller id to find that his Mom was calling him. He briefly considered ignoring it but knew that if he didn't answer she would continue to call until he picked up.

After talking to his Mom for 30 minutes Nick rushed to take a shower and get ready for his shift. He grabbed a Diet Coke from the fridge and a power bar. He opened his front door and a white envelope fluttered to the ground. He switched the power bar to the hand holding his keys and soda and kneeled to get a closer look at the white object on his doorstep. His breath hitched in his chest as he looked down at the familiar heavy strokes of his name in black ink. He stepped back into the house and set down his keys, the soda and the now half eaten power bar to grab a pair of tweezers from his bathroom and a Ziploc bag from his kitchen. He returned with the items and carefully used the tweezers to grab the very edge of the envelope corner and carefully place it in the bag. The undercover detective who had been assigned to Nick's house walked up Nick's driveway as he was sealing the bag.

"Everything okay Stokes?" The detective stood next to Nick and watched the CSI carefully.

"I found this on my doorstep. I think it's another letter. I'll take it with me to the lab. You might want to call Brass and let him know." Nick spoke quietly as he stared at the white card size envelope.

"You found it on your door step just now right?" The detective didn't wait for an answer from Nick. "That means that idiot Williams was here when it was left and he didn't see the guy leave it. Shit! Brass is gonna have a fit when he finds out. Are you going to be okay Stokes? I can drive you in if you want."

"I'll be okay. Hell, I didn't even get your name." Nick grinned as he realized that he had been having a conversation with the detective and didn't even know his name.

"Detective Stewart, nice to meet you CSI Stokes. You sure about that ride?" Stewart asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, thanks anyway." Nick gathered the bag and his keys to lock up and head to work.

"Alright, I'll call Brass, if you need anything call." Stewart headed to his sedan and drove off, leaving Nick in the driveway.

Nick locked his front door and got in his truck while Carl watched stealthy from the shadows next door.

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Carl had watched Nick find the envelope and was pleased with the CSI's reaction. Brave, but with an underlying of fear as his gaze fell upon the envelope. He would savor that look on Nick's face. He had watched Detective Stewart and decided that he would need to be careful when the Detective was on duty; he wouldn't be as lax as the other cop. Carl laughed to himself, it had been so easy to sneak up to Nick's house and leave his gift. He made sure that Nick had headed to the lab, that the detective was gone, and that none of Nick's neighbors were out and about before he headed to his van. He would head home and plan his next move. Killing Karen and watching Nick fall deeper into his trap.

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Nick went to the locker room after he dropped the envelope off in fingerprints with Jacqui. He hadn't even opened it; instead he told her to process the envelope and whatever was inside for prints and then send it to Wendy for DNA. He knew deep down that there would be no prints, nor would there be any DNA, but he had to try. He made his way to the break room and found that Brass was sitting with Warrick and Grissom who had just returned from his conference.

"Hey Griss. Brass." Nick greeted the two older gentlemen before sitting to next to Warrick.

"Nicky, Jim and Warrick have been filling me in on this case you're working. It seems this serial killer has taken a personal interest in you." Grissom peered over the top of his glasses and waited for Nick to answer.

"Yeah, he has. I got another letter from him just before I came in." Nick sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Detective Stewart just called and told me. I'll be having a chat with Detective Williams and he will be removed from the detail." Brass drained his coffee and stood to throw the cup away before heading to the door.

Brass paused at the door and turned to look at Nick. "Hey Nick, be careful, okay?" He quickly left and walked down the corridor.

"Nick, I think you should be removed from this case for your own safety." Grissom took a sip of his coffee and waited for the protest from Nick.

"Gris, c'mon, I'm fine, he's just toying with us, with me, I can handle it." Nick objected.

"Griss, Nick's kept his head through this, he can handle it." Warrick came to his partner's defense.

Grissom sighed, knowing that this would be a battle he would not win easily and if he did win it would result in alienating Nick and possibly Warrick. Against his better judgment he nodded his head. "Alright. Nick, you can stay on the case, but if at any point Brass or I deem that is too dangerous for you to continue, you will back off without complaint. Understood?" Grissom asked sternly.

"Understood. Thanks Grissom." Nick was relieved, he could handle it and he didn't want everyone to feel like he needed their protection.

"Okay, I'll take the files you have so far and do some catching up. I'll be in here if you need me." Grissom pulled a stack of files closer and began to read.

"We'll check on the envelope I brought in. We'll keep you posted." Nick and Warrick stood up to leave.

"Let me know if you get any prints." Grissom never even looked up as the two CSI's made their way out of the break room.