Chapter 27 – Free
He carefully took the thing out and tried to open the cuff. It worked. Nick let his head fall back onto the pillow and he laughed and cried at the same time. He slid his hand out and used the knife to undo the other cuff.
"I'm free," he whispered to himself. He sat up in the bed, rubbing his wrists and looking around. Now he had to get out of this room. He knew he wouldn't be able to get out the door because George had locked it. He stood up and walked over to the window. The sill was about 6 feet off the ground and Nick had to stand on his tip toes to see out. He figured he could probably fit through it if he could get it open and started working on that right away.
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A long line of cop cars sped down Las Vegas Boulevard with their sirens wailing. The CSIs car was in the middle of the line with Warrick behind the wheel. Sara and Catherine were sitting in the back, holding on for dear life as Warrick sped down the highway, barely blinking. They went for a few miles before turning onto Sloan Road. Sara looked out her window and saw nothing but desert.
"There's nothing out here," she said to Catherine.
"A perfect place to hide," she answered.
The line of cars pulled onto the side. Other then desert there were a few houses widely spaced but that was it. Sara got out of the car and saw the SWAT team arm themselves at the door. Brass came by and told them to stay back until they had cleared it but Sara wasn't going to listen to him. She had her vest on and was about to pull out her gun when Grissom stopped her.
"We need to stay here," he said with a hand on her arm.
"But Grissom, I want to go in there."
"No, Sara. They'll get him out. Don't worry." He gave her a forced smile and Sara put her gun away. She sighed and leaned against the car, folding her arms. She watched intently as the SWAT team went in quietly, searching the rooms. She heard them shouting, "clear" and she walked closer to the house. She heard then burst through doors. They went out of earshot and Sara bit her lip, wondering what was going on.
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Nick didn't want to break the window because that would tell George that he had gotten free. He tried to open it but it was locked. He tried cutting away at the lock but it didn't get very far. He decided that breaking the glass was the only way to do it. He was just about to do it when he saw something outside. It was a person with black boots so he ducked down, still watching, just in case it was Shempsky.
He saw a line of people in black boots and he tried to get a better look at them. Then it hit him; they were the SWAT team! He got away from the window and sat on the bed as he heard someone running down the stairs. He panicked briefly as he heard the locks slide and George burst into the room, shutting the door behind him, not even looking at Nick. Nick lay down slowly, trying to make it look like he hadn't gotten himself free. He took the knife off the bed and opened it, putting it behind his back, just in case.
George turned around, still not looking at Nick, pacing the room with a gun in his hand. He mumbled to himself and Nick heard the door burst open upstairs. George and Nick looked at the ceiling in unison as they heard people burst through doors calling out "clear!"
George looked at Nick but he didn't notice. "What are you doing?!" he snarled, catching Nick's attention. Nick sat wide eyed as George gave him an evil smile. He had brownish teeth and when he smiled Nick could tell he was insane.
More doors banged open as George raised his gun to Nick's head. "Thought you could fool me?" he whispered.
What happened next went by so fast Nick couldn't tell what came first when he tried to recall it later. The same time Nick pulled the knife out from behind his back he stood up, startling Shempsky. He caught him off guard; he lowered his gun for a second then raised it again. But Nick was too quick. He put all his force behind it and he brought the knife down into his chest.
As soon as he did, someone pounded on the door. It didn't open so it was pounded again, breaking it this time. 5 men all in black ran into the room. The men caught his attention and he didn't notice when George collapsed forward onto Nick, knocking them both onto the bed. The men in black ran forward and pulled George and Nick off the bed.
"I'm a cop…I'm a cop," Nick said with his hands raised, all out of breath. One man checked Shempsky's pulse and cuffed him. He was trying to suck in breath so the man laid him on the floor, starting first aid.
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Sara couldn't hear anything. She was standing with Catherine and the pair stood there, barely breathing. The silence was unnerving. She was standing close to Brass and the cackle of his radio startled her.
"We need a paramedic down here. Suspect has been taken down," someone said. Sara looked at Brass. What did that mean? The guy was dead? What about Nick? She looked over at Catherine who had a look that seemed to match what Sara was feeling. There had been an ambulance in the long line of cars and the paramedics were ready in case they were needed. At the call on Brass' radio the pair raced into the house with the stretcher.
After another 10 minutes Brass told the CSIs they could go in. The paramedics had taken George out but they still hadn't heard anything about Nick. They assumed he was still in there. Sara practically ran into the house. Brass was leading the way and he went into the basement, Sara nearly on top of him. They saw the broken door and went into a room that looked a little like a cellar. She looked around and saw Nick sitting on a bed against the wall.
"Nick," she cried softly. For some reason her legs wouldn't take her anywhere even though she would have wanted nothing more then to run to him and wrap her arms around his obviously shaking body.
Nick looked up at his name and saw Sara standing by the doorway. Relief washed over him when he saw her. He stood up. It was almost as if him standing had released Sara she ran over to him seeing the blood on his shirt just before she got to him. The CSI in her prevented her from touching him.
"What happened?" she asked, looking down at his shirt.
"I stabbed him," he said, unusually calm.
"You stabbed him?" she asked looking up.
"I stabbed him," he said again. She took his hand and looked up at him with teary eyes and a smile.
"Are you ok?"
"Perfect, now that you're here." Nick smiled and ran a finger down the side of her face. She closed her eyed and sighed, almost as if she hadn't taken a breath since he had gone.