Title: No Easy Task
Chapter 3
"Call Jim now!"
Grissom immediately finished dialing Brass's number. As it started ringing, Grissom's mind started racing through the possible scenarios one of his guys could be dealing with. If Catherine was right in assuming it was gunshots she heard, a bank and gunfire would not make for a happy situation. Right now, he only hoped Nick was not the target of any of those 3 shots. Despite the fact that he was not a man to jump to conclusions, the fact that Nick was not responding on the other end left a terrible feeling lingering in the pit of his stomach. Thoughts of Amy Hendler crept into his mind.
On the fourth ring, he finally got an answer. "Brass."
"Jim, I think we have a problem."
"I'd say we have a problem. It's after the end of shift for both of us and we still seem to be at work, right?"
"Brass, I need you to listen. I need you to check if you have any calls from or alarms activated at the LV Bank a couple of blocks north of the lab."
"What? Why?" Grissom's voice usually carried a serious tone to it that were all used to, but this was different.
"Short story – Nick was at the bank, on the phone with Catherine. She heard gunfire and she's not hearing much else right now. If something's going on, we need to get over there. Now."
"Nick? Shit. Hold on a sec. Let me make a call on the other line."
Grissom tiredly rubbed at his beard while waiting to get an answer from Brass. "Catherine, do you hear anything?"
"No. I don't know. Someone muttering something. It sounds too far away." Catherine lifted her right hand to cover her free ear in an effort to try and make out what she was hearing. Sounded like something heavy was being moved.
Warrick and Sara stood between him and Catherine not sure of what was going on, their heads turning from Gil to Catherine as each spoke. Finding the situation playing out in the break room a little ridiculous, Warrick felt there was a simpler way to find out what was going on. "I'm going over there. If this some joke, I'm dragging Nick's ass back here and making him process all three of those damn boxes on his own and making him pay for lunch too."
Grissom put a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Warrick wait, I think Jim's coming back on."
"Yeah, we got a silent alarm pulled over at the LV Bank. We got officers on the way. Considering how close that is, should already be there. I'm headed there now." Brass' voice was agitated. Last thing anyone wanted was an officer involved shooting anywhere, much less a public place like a bank with civilians surely around.
"So are we. Catherine's going to stay here, keep the line open. Maybe we can figure out what's going on." With that Grissom disconnected the call and headed out of the break room with Warrick and Sara in tow.
"Wait, Grissom, I want to go with you." Catherine shook her head as she followed her colleagues out.
Grissom turned to face her, with a calm but pleading expression. "Catherine, you need to be our ears into what's going on in there. Make sure you keep the phone charged and let's hope Nick's phone has plenty of power. No telling how long this may go. Find Archie, connect it to an amplified cell phone microphone. Maybe it'll help you hear more of what's going on. Call us as soon you start hearing anything."
He turned to Warrick and Sara. "Let's go over there." The three hurriedly made their way down the hallways of the lab.
Catherine nodded. She didn't like it. But she also wanted to know what was going on in there and to know Nick was alright. With that in mind, she made a beeline for the A/V lab and found Archie going through some surveillance tapes. Still holding her phone to her ear, she said, "Archie, I need you to drop everything you're doing. Need you to hook up my cell phone to audio and amplify what's going on on the other end."
The Asian man looked up questioningly and stammered just a bit. "Well…but I was just finishing up some tapes Grissom told me were priority number one."
"Archie, this is priority number one. There's a bank robbery in progress down the street, Nick's there and this is our only link to what's going on inside." Nothing more needed to be said. The tech quickly shut off the tapes he was viewing and began setting up the needed audio equipment to record and amplify the sounds being picked up by the cell phone.
Greg was walking by the lab with several dozen sealed evidence bags in his arms. "Hey Catherine, have you seen Warrick? Thought we'd start on this stuff until Nick got here with the food."
"About that, Greg, I need you to go to my desk, top drawer, left-hand side. Get me my phone charger and bring it back here. There's a problem." She continued to briefly explain what was happening. Brief was the only kind of explanation she could give at the moment. Greg's forehead wrinkled up as he took in the news. This was more important. He placed his evidence on the table behind Archie's workstation and headed out to find the charger.
"Okay, Catherine, I'm ready. Let me have the phone, I'll hook it up and we'll have this in surround sound in a second." Catherine momentarily gave up her only link to Nick. Archie worked quickly to connect the phone and did so in a matter of seconds.
"Okay, we're up."
"Thanks, Archie." Catherine let out a tired sigh. She and Archie stood in front of his computer screen as the software monitored every sound that was picked up. Even though the sounds were amplified, they both leaned in towards the computer hoping to pick something up.
Greg ran back into the A/V lab and handed the charger to Catherine. "Hear anything?"
"Yeah, sounds like someone's crying. It's a little low, but sounds like a woman. A customer or bank employee, maybe? Whoever that is, they just got closer to the phone. Other than that, some background noise, far away talking." She plugged the charger into the phone and then the charger into the outlet towards the back of Archie's desk. Greg pulled up two chairs, just in case they were here for a while. "Thanks, Greg."
After a few minutes, they heard something else. A gasp or maybe a grunt? It was definitely male. Sounded like someone closer to the phone was moving. After a few more minutes, Catherine closed her eyes in relief. She could hear Nick speaking to someone. His voice wasn't as low and not as strong as she would like to hear, but it was him. They each strained closer to hear what was being said. Nick was trying to reassure someone. Probably a fellow hostage. Probably the crying woman. But it was the woman's whimpers about her baby that made Catherine shutter. Maybe she had a child with her there at the bank? She quickly picked up the phone and dialed Grissom.
"Grissom."
"It's me. We're hooked up. We can hear Nicky. Sounds a little weak, but it's him. He seems to be talking to a woman, probably another hostage. She said something about a baby. Let Jim know there may be a child in there too.
"What else…" Grissom didn't have a chance to finish his question before he was cut-off.
"Gil wait, someone's yelling." A male voice. Then Nick spoke.
"Shut up! Don't be planning any great escapes or I just might not hesitate to shoot you this time!"
"She's just scared. She's pregnant. Let her go, please."
"I told you to shut up! Damn cops are out there already. I'm the one that decides who leaves and only when it's for my benefit."
"Name's Jack right? It's just the three of us in here, okay. Let her go. You can use me for whatever you need. I won't fight back. Can't really anyway."
"What are you, stupid? Or do you just have some sort of a death wish? I told you to shut up. Your buddies are already out there. Probably planning on storming in here. I'm not letting them take me down that easy!"
"No, listen. I just don't want anyone to get hurt. They won't come in here without trying to talk to you first. They want this to end peacefully. You should want this to end peacefully. It will be better for you, Jack."
"And what the hell would you know about what's good for me, huh? This couldn't have gone any worse than it did. You killed my buddy and I shot you. You and you're cop friends are just gonna make sure the judge locks me in prison and throws away the key. No, I'm gonna get outta here if I can."
"That's not true. I can help you. Just need to show them you're willing to work with them, not hurt anybody and end this situation."
"Yeah, what are you, some sort of hostage negotiator? You trying to work me over? That's something, real rich. We try robbing a bank, end up getting stuck with hostages and one of them turns out to be a police negotiator."
"Jack, I'm not a hostage negotiator, I'm not a police officer. I'm a crime scene investigator. I just want for this to end."
"Crime scene? You're a fingerprint guy? What the hell does the fingerprint guy go around carrying a gun for? Call yourself whatever you want, you're a cop. And you made this a lot worse for me. Now shut up and let me think!"
"Gil, I think Nick knows we're listening. He's painting a pretty clear picture of what's going on. He keeps calling the guy Jack, one robber. He's in there with one other hostage, a pregnant woman. This Jack guy is agitated, already sees the police outside the bank. He's trying to calm the guy down. Convince him to end this peacefully. He's trying to get him to release the woman and to keep him. Said he wouldn't fight back, that he couldn't fight back."
Grissom exhaled noisily into the phone. "We just got here. Police are already here too. I need to go find Jim and get this info to him. Stay on the line with me." And she did so patiently because she wasn't hearing anything else from her cell phone.
Tbc
More comments welcomed…
Notes: Trying to slow the story down and put a little more detail in as was suggested, even though I already have an ending in mind that I am eager to get to. Hopefully that notion is coming through, at least a little, with this third chapter. Let me know! I am proofing on my own, so hopefully there aren't too many errors. Sorry for any I left in there. :)