I'm happy that you are still with this and reading along! And for those who have commented or made this a fav or alert, I really do appreciate you. I'm trying to be really good on this one and double check all my facts and the spelling and grammar, so it is taking longer between posts. Thank you for your patience. Happy reading:)

Jim heard soft breathing from across the hall and spotted a young boy peering around the corner at him. He smiled at the boy and spoke softly, "hey buddy." The boy looked away and then dipped his eyes to the floor. Then shyly, he looked up at Jim again. "My name's Jim," the detective told the boy. "What's your name?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," the boy said, finding his courage.

Jim chuckled. "Your parents taught you that, huh? It's okay…that's good. But I'm a policeman, looking for your sister. Your mom let me in…but hey, if you don't want to talk, that's okay."

The boy seemed to be sizing him up. "I'm Vinh," he told Jim as he stepped into the room. "Is Mai coming back?"

"Well, that's what I'm working on. I got my guys out looking for her now, but I need to ask your parents some more questions." Jim paused and looked at the kid. He was a good looking boy with blue eyes and light brown hair that sat over a high forehead, like his father's. The left brow arched slightly as he looked across the room. His expression was intense and intelligent and he was definitely studying Jim. Without knowing his Vietnamese heritage Jim wouldn't have guessed it, except something about the structure of his eyes... Jim thought he must look mostly like his mother's family. Brother and sister looked a lot alike, Jim mused, except that Mai had a rounder face and she didn't have the slight under bite that the boy exhibited and her eyes most definitely gave away her Asian ancestry. "Hey, maybe you can help me," Jim suggested.

Vinh edged a little closer and looked at him apprehensively. "I want you to find Mai."

"So, did you visit your Uncle Tim much…stay with him like Mai was?"

Vinh swallowed. "Sometimes. But this time I was staying with Bà. Uncle Tim was going to take Mai to a movie and I didn't want to go, so Bà said I could stay with her."

"Bà? Who is that?" Jim asked.

"My grandmother. Uncle Tim is…was her brother, but he helped raise my father."

"Oh? What happened to your grandfather?"

Vinh shifted uncomfortably, and scratched the back of his head. Then frowning, he replied. "I don't have one. Mama's father died before I was born and Papa never knew his father. He was an American soldier in Vietnam. I asked Bà about him once and she just started crying so I never asked again. Papa gets angry if I try to talk about him."

"Yeah, I guess that's understandable," Jim said sadly as he thought of the countless stories of Amer-Asian children left behind.

"Did you ever go to Vietnam?" the boy asked curiously.

"Yeah…a long time ago," Jim answered. Once again, his mind flashed back to his time spent there and suddenly regrets threatened to overwhelm him.

"Did you fight in the war?" The boy asked tentatively.

"Ah, yeah," Jim said as the boy's question brought him back to the present. "I lost some good friends there, but I met some really good people too."

"Vietnamese people?"

Jim smiled. "Yeah. I met some really nice Vietnamese people... especially in this one village…"

"Papa says he will take us to Vietnam to visit when we are older. He says he hasn't been back since they left when he was a little boy. He wants to go back and see what it is like now."

Jim smiled. "I was there in the nineties. You'll like it, I think. It is still a beautiful country."

Vinh's eyes lit with excitement. Just as he was about to speak, Jimmy and Alicia walked into the room. "Vinh," his father admonished, "Captain Brass is not here to listen to your silliness."

Vinh suddenly looked shy again and stepped back, his thumbs playing nervously across his finger tips. "Oh, it's okay," Jim offered. "Vinh and I were having a nice conversation. He was telling me that your family is planning to visit Vietnam in the future."

Jimmy looked at him warily. "Yes. I want to go back and see it as an adult. I was a child when we left."

"Well, I think you'll enjoy your trip. As I was telling Vinh, I was there in the 90's and it was very beautiful."

Jimmy frowned. "Why would you go there? I thought most Americans hated Vietnam… or maybe it is just the people."

Jim tilted his head slightly, trying to understand this man's anger. "No, I don't hate the country…or the people. I went back to find some of the people I met when I was there…before."

"You fought in the war?" Jimmy almost spit the words out.

"I did. It was miserable. The only good thing about it was the people I met along the way. There were some very nice Vietnamese people… got to know some of them. They were good people and made me feel welcome, even though our presence was drawing fire from the Viet Cong."

Jimmy looked at him speculatively. "Many American soldiers told lies and made promises that they never intended to keep…"

Jim rubbed the back of his head with his hand, trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation. "Look, I was just a kid myself during the war. I know a lot of promises were made…and broken. All I can tell you is that although I hated the war, hated some of the things I saw, I thought we were doing the right thing. And the unit I was in tried to make life a little easier for the village we were near. And I never hated the people… just the war."

Jimmy glared at him for a moment. Alicia's hand moved to Jimmy's and she squeezed it supportively. The action didn't go unnoticed by Jim. This was a touchy subject with the man. Obviously, he was one of the Amer-Asians that had been abandoned, one of the children of the dust as they were called.

The air seemed to go out of Jimmy and his expression slowly changed. "My apologies," he said unconvincingly. "My family was met with…hostility when we came to America. Many of the Vietnamese were. And our sponsors, while having good intentions, tried to force American culture on us, trying to get us to forget our own. When I meet someone new, I assume… but that is wrong of me. And we do need your help now," he said softly.

"It's okay. No harm…" Jim shifted his weight in the chair and then pulled out his pen and pad, hoping the action would change the atmosphere in the room. "Our investigation revealed that Tim came here from the Philippines…"

"Yes, we left Vietnam on a boat…a raft really. Thai pirates captured us and held us for two days before the Malaysian Navy rescued us. They took us to the Philippines. A Catholic group in Los Angeles sponsored us to come to the United States. My mother worked to support us and Tim and Guy worked also. They moved to Las Vegas when I came to school here. They had saved for many years to have the money to open their business. But what does any of this have to do with finding my daughter?"

"The more we know about your uncle, the better chance we have of finding your daughter. Understanding his life might help us find whoever took her."

Jimmy sighed. "I wish I could tell you more but Uncle was very private. He loved his family but he kept his thoughts to himself."

"Have you heard from Guy…when he'll get here?"

"He has a flight tomorrow. He should arrive late in the day. He was very upset by the news. Tim was older. They had an older brother but he died in the war. Tim took the responsibility of being the eldest and he and my mother raised Guy and me."

Jim pulled his card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Jimmy. "Hopefully, we'll have found Mai by then, but just in case …Please, have him call me when he arrives. And you said he is married. I need to speak with his wife also. And Vinh mentioned his grandmother…your mother? She might have something to add…"

Yes, of course," Jimmy replied as he took Jim's card. "I will tell them to call you."

"Just one more question," Brass said. The other man looked at him expectantly. "You don't have to answer but…your names… you and your uncles were born in Vietnam but you have American names…"

Jimmy Trang looked at him, disdain in his features. "It was Tim's idea. He thought that maybe it would be easier if we had American names, so we all picked what we wanted to be called. When we were in the Philippines, the director of the refugee camp liked Jimmy Buffet and played his music all the time. He was kind to us, so I choose Jimmy in honor of his favorite singer. My mother said it was a perfect solution."

"Oh, I see…" Jim said as he processed the information. "Um, well thanks…I'll let you know as soon as we have more information…" Jim said as he started to walk across the room towards the door. "And Vinh," he said as he turned to the boy, "it was nice talkin' with you."

Vinh smiled warily glancing at his father to be sure he wasn't in trouble. Jim winked and then walked out the door. Back in his car, Jim sighed heavily. Time was passing and they were no closer to finding the little girl. The pressure was building.

Back at CSI, Nick was processing the evidence he'd found at the scene. He'd finally identified one set of the mystery prints as belonging to the building manager. But there was one set of prints he hadn't been able to nail down and while they were running through the system, he was processing various fibers he'd found near the body. Meanwhile, the blood samples were being processed in the DNA lab.

The fibers came back as white cotton and after further examination, Nick found traces of chloroform on them. A towel maybe, he thought as he examined them again. Then opening the next evidence bag, he poured the contents on a tray on the table. "A button," he said out loud. Further examination revealed that it was a pretty commonly used button on men's pants. Nick shrugged and emptied another bag.

Frowning, he picked up these fibers with tweezers. They were blue, not quite navy but dark. Putting them under the microscope, he was able to determine that they were a cotton-polyester blend. Grunting, he placed the fibers back in their bag.

Straightening up to stretch his shoulders, he twisted his neck until he heard a satisfying pop. Then he moved to the next bag. This one got his attention immediately. It appeared to be a nail, a fingernail, Nick thought. He studied it under the microscope and decided it was too large to belong to the girl. Maybe it was another clue about their guy. After bagging it, he took it to DNA to see if it matched the unknown blood sample.

Walking into the DNA lab, he was surprised to see Greg sitting at the workstation. "Greg, what are you…"

"I thought I'd help you out … since my case is wrapped up."

Nick grinned. "Well thanks…I wanna find this girl before it's too late."

"Yeah," Greg said meaningfully. He opened his mouth to add more but the printer spit out a paper and drew their attention. Greg reached over and grabbed it. After a quick study he told Nick, "Looks like it's a male of Asian descent. But it doesn't match the Trangs." He handed the paper to Nick. "I'm still running the other one. But it'll be a few…"

"Yeah, okay," he said as he looked at he paper. "Oh hey, can you run this fingernail sample? Maybe it's a match to some of the blood…" he said as he handed it to Greg. The younger CSI took it and began preparing it for processing while Nick walked back to the layout room to finish his work.

Nick walked back in the room to find Jim standing there, looking over what he'd found so far. "Oh hey Jim," Nick said as he walked inside. "Just got back the results on one of the blood samples. It's an Asian male not related to the Trangs."

Jim's eyebrows rose as he took in the information. "You sure? No relation?"

"None. Greg's running a fingernail sample I found to see if it's a match."

"Okay. Anything else?"

Nick shrugged. "Nothing that's gonna find the girl. But I'll keep looking."

"Okay," Jim said as he flexed his fingers at his side. "I um…I'll be back at my office if anything pops…" Nick watched the detective as he walked out. The man was looking discouraged, the CSI thought.

Back in his office, Jim thought about tackling some of the files on his desk but decided against it. He called Vega but he hadn't found anything yet either. Jim was frustrated; the case was going nowhere. Just as he was deciding what to do next, his phone rang. It was Sally Trang, Guy's wife.

"Jimmy said you wanted to talk to me," she said. "I'm not sure what I can add to what Jimmy has already told you, but I can meet with you. I have to pick our children up but after that, I will be available." They made arrangements for Jim to meet her at their house in an hour.

Sitting behind his desk, he let his mind wander. As it seemed to be doing a lot lately, it wandered back 40 years to Vietnam.

"Hey Jimmy," Willie Hayes called out to him. Wait up…"

Jim stopped and looked over his shoulder at the tall, slender black man, who was jogging to catch up. Hayes was a corporal, second in command after Kerr but he was also a friend. They'd saved each other's asses more than once. So Jim stopped to wait.

"Whacha in such a hurry for?" Hayes asked in his soft Memphis drawl.

"Dunno," Jim said angrily. Then with a deep sigh, he explained. "Just got the word from the CO. He won't approve me marrying An."

"He won't?" Hayes was obviously sorry for his friend. "But you an' An… you two belong wid each otha…"

"I know that," Jim snapped. "But that asshole… he said I'd feel differently when I got home…he said I wouldn't want a slant eye for a wife when I got back stateside."

"Aw man… he called her dat?"

"And worse," Jim said angrily. "And then he layed into me for getting involved with her in the first place. I just wanted to wrap my hands around the son-of-a-bitch's neck and strangle him."

"You didn't…do anything, did ya?"

Jim looked at him squarely. "No. But I swear, if he'd opened his mouth one more time with his filth…"

Willie wrapped his arm around Jim's shoulder and walked down the path with him. "It gonna be awright," he said. "You'll see. Afta this is over, you can come back and get her. Won't be no asshole captain tellin' you who you can be with and who you can't."

"Yeah, after its over…" Jim suddenly stopped and looked at his friend. "Yeah…I won't be a Marine forever. I can come back after I'm out…thanks Willie."

"You bet, Jimmy. You be back. I know you love dat girl, so I know you'll be back."

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

Michel de Montaigne