Hey everyone. Sorry for the late update. Life has been getting in the way. I wanted to say a big thank-you to Leona for your review. I hope this chapter will clear up your concerns about Grissom. I appreciate the pointers; it always helps to know how to improve my story.
This chapter is one of my favourites, I know it's not all that long, but hopefully I will be able to update again soon.
Xxx
IronAngel 420
CSICSICSICSI
Nick Stokes scanned the newspaper as he sipped his coffee. The waitress finally brought his breakfast and he dug in hungrily. That was the problem with catching cases at the end of shift; it meant it was hours before you could get the chance to grab some food. Even now, though, he knew he had to hurry to get back. Nick wolfed down the last bit of his pancakes and took a few minutes to finish his coffee. He was back to scanning the paper when the door to the diner opened and he looked up. Nick immediately froze, because there in the doorway stood the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. The morning sun was pouring through the glass door behind her, making her seem as if she were glowing. She flipped her Ray Banns back and up onto her head pushing her thick fringe back with it. Nick was pretty sure he had just seen an Angel, but he was pretty sure Angels didn't walk around dressed completely in black. She walked up to the counter and placed her hands on it.
"Hi," she said to the waitress, "I'd like five coffees to go, please."
The waitress put the order into the machine and took the money from the woman. The woman then turned her head and her eye grazed over Nick and then jumped back to him. She looked at him and said, "You know, if you keep your mouth open like that, a bug just might fly into it."
Nick realized he'd been sitting there staring at her with his mouth open like some idiot.
"I'm sorry, I, uh," he gave a nervous laugh, "Sorry."
The woman looked down and smiled, "It's not a problem."
"You're not from around here, are you?" Nick asked.
"Neither are you," she countered, "Texas?"
"Good guess," Nick smiled.
She turned her back to the counter and leaned against it.
"I'm Nick Stokes," said Nick. Just then the waitress returned with the coffee and the woman took them from her.
"Thanks," she said and dropped a ten in the tip jar. "It was nice to meet you, Nick," with that she turned and walked out the door. Nick jumped up and threw some money onto the table and rushed out after the woman.
"Hey, wait! I didn't catch your name!" he called.
She turned but continued to walk backwards, "That's because I didn't give it!" And with that she turned and got into her car. She drove off and left Nick standing there in the parking lot staring after her.
Warrick Brown sat in the CSI break room nursing the cup of coffee the New Girl had bought for the team. Even if she was a little young, she definitely got a positive mark in Warrick's book for this. He was just glad he didn't have to drink the black sludge that was classified as coffee in the CSI break room. He leaned back in his chair and rested his head against the back wall, closing his eyes for a few moments. He was heading for the far side of a double shift and so far the caffeine spike wasn't doing it for him.
Just then Nick walked in. A big, goofy grin plastered on his face.
"You look way to chipper for this time of day," said Warrick wearily.
Nick trotted over to the fridge and got himself an orange juice then flopped down onto one of the couches.
"Maybe," he said in his strong Texan accent, "It's because I met someone."
Warrick smirked then said, "Man, you just went out for breakfast! What is she, UNLV cheerleader? Or another underwear model?"
Nick took a swig of his juice, then shrugged and said, "Not sure. Though she's beautiful enough to be an angel."
"Not sure? Okay, so what is her name?" asked Warrick.
Nick took another long sip of his OJ.
"You did get her name, right?" asked Warrick.
Nick shrugged.
"Her phone number?"
Another shrug.
Warrick burst out laughing and Nick protested, "Hey, Man, she was real coy. Somehow I was the only one who offered up any information."
Warrick was still laughing and Nick also started to chuckle. Warrick shook his head and took another sip of his coffee, when Catherine and the New Girl walked up behind Nick. They paused behind the couch that Nick was lounging on.
"What are you two buffoons laughing about?" asked Catherine.
Nick looked up and threw Catherine one of his easy grins. From his angle he could not see the New Girl. "Wouldn't you like to know," said Nick.
Catherine swatted him over his head affectionately and said, "If I wanted to know anything about your personal life, Nicky; I just needed to wait five seconds after walking into a room."
Nick ducked his head shyly and chuckled. Coming around Catherine continued, "Seeing as how you can't keep anything about your private life private."
Warrick laughed again and he saw Griffin lean against the wall and cross her arms, an amused expression on her face as she watched the scene unfold before her.
"So let me guess," said Catherine sitting down and crossing her legs and her folded arms over her chest, "Cheerleader? Or underwear model?"
"He doesn't know," smirked Warrick.
Catherine turned to Nick, "You don't know?"
"Didn't even get her name. She ran out before he could get her name or number," chuckled Warrick.
"Oh, wow, Nick," Catherine began to laugh, "You really have a way with the ladies. Where do you meet these women?"
"At Frank's Diner. He sits and stares at them with his mouth open," said Griffin speaking for the first time from her position behind Nick. Nick froze. Griffin walked around and leaned against the table, her arms still crossed. Nick turned and stared at Griffin with wide eyes.
Catherine and Warrick looked back and forth between Nick and Griffin until Catherine burst out laughing and said, "Oh my god! You tried to pick up Griffin?"
Griffin continued to look at Nick, and he suddenly looked very sheepish.
"So, Texas, you also work at CSI?" asked Griffin as Catherine and Warrick continued to laugh.
Just then Grissom and Sara walked in.
"What's so funny?" asked Sara.
Catherine and Warrick were laughing so hard they could not speak, so Nick grumbled, "Just another joke at my expense."
"Okay, happy hour is over people," said Grissom throwing a file onto the table. It landed with a smack. Everyone who knew this reserved man knew that this was the equivalent of throwing the furniture around the room. The room became abruptly serious.
"What happened?" asked Catherine. Warrick and Nick sat up straighter; Griffin remained completely still, her expression unreadable, her body language relaxed. Grissom didn't answer, his top lip jerked up in obvious disgust.
Sara was the one who answered, "The FBI has taken over the Kimmy Barett case."
"What?!" said Warrick outraged.
"Special Agent Rick Culpepper," was all Grissom said. And suddenly they all knew. They all knew the egotistical jerk who worked with the FBI and who seemed to have a personal vendetta against Grissom and his team.
"So that's it?" asked Warrick in disbelief.
"No, we continue working the Michael Barett and Kimmy Barett case. Nick, did you run those blood drops through DNA?"
Nick nodded and said, "Blood is not a match to the victim or to the little girl, suggests that it's the killer's. No hits as yet. I also matched those tyre prints I found on the street in front of the house. The tyres are common to a number of vehicles, so when we have a suspect we can match the tyres to a car on that list."
"Can I have that list?" asked Grissom.
"Sure," Nick said and handed the list over to Grissom.
Grissom looked over the list, then nodded and turned to Catherine, "Shoe print?"
"Yeah, I ran it through the Solemate Database. It's a man size eleven, Dock Marten. Unfortunately, it's a pretty common shoe."
"Still it's a start," said Grissom, "Warrick?"
"Girl's room is clean, other than a few blood drops. Bloods from the dad, it probably dripped from the knife. There were no prints (finger or shoe) either - nada," said Warrick dejectedly.
"Sara?" said Grissom turning to the woman next to him.
"Doc Robbins says cause of death is exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds," said Sara, "the Vic suffered a broken nose and six broken ribs prior to his death. Whoever did this, beat the crap out of Mr. Barett before they killed him."
Griffin spoke from her position a little to the back and away from the group, "Considering this is a child abduction I thought it would be prudent to see how many sex offenders there are in our search radius. There are twelve registered sex offenders. Seven of them are paedophiles, and four of those seven are currently on parole."
"Good, round up a detective and get them to bring in those on your list," said Grissom.
Griffin nodded and said, "Already done, though it will take some time to get them all in."
Just then Grissom's phone rang.
"Grissom ...when was this? Okay, Jim, I want to be there when you interrogate him...I'm on my way right now. Yeah, thanks...bye."
"What's up, Boss?" asked Warrick.
"That was Jim. A twelve year old kid just came forward claiming he saw the killer fleeing the scene," said Grissom, "I'm heading over there now. Nick, Warrick, I want you two to dig into the Barett's background, both the husband and the wife. I want background checks on babysitters, housekeepers, everyone. Check into Vanessa's old cases and new ones; see if there is anything there. Keep me in the loop."
Warrick nodded and Nick said, "You got it, Boss," and the two of them got up and left the room.
"Catherine, I want you to check up on the fibre we found under the Vic's fingernails, see if Trace has found anything. I also want you to take a mould of his wounds."
"Sure thing," said Catherine, and she, too, left.
"Sara, I want you to go over the Vic's clothes, see if we missed anything."
Sara nodded then left.
"So, Griffin, that leaves you with me," said Grissom turning to the young woman leaning against the table.
Griffin straightened and said, "Let's go."
As the young girl walked out Grissom pursed his lips thoughtfully. He wouldn't normally allow someone who wasn't an official member of his team, but there was something about this girl. Something he couldn't put his finger on. All he knew was he wanted to see what this girl could do...