Grissom looked up quickly when his office door swung open and hit the wall.
Nick stormed in, placing his palms on the desk and leaning toward him, his eyes ablaze.
"Why didn't you tell me she was out of prison?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Kelly Gordon," he said slowly, and Grissom stared at him.
"Nick, I don't know what this has to do with---"
"Her fingerprint was found on the railing in the mall. I bet that size seven shoeprint we lifted is a match, too. The girl in the record store, that her, too?"
Grissom leaned back in his chair, speechless, and Sara walked in the office just as Nick stood up and put his hands on his hips.
Nick shook his head as Sara placed a photo on Grissom's desk. She cleared her throat.
"She was at the mall. In the stairwell, and in the record store."
Nick turned and looked at her.
"Archie sent over some photos from the security footage," she said quietly, and Nick rubbed his forehead, sighing heavily.
Grissom stared at the picture and squinted and Sara saw it. He knew something, and he wasn't telling them.
She frowned.
"This isn't just a coincidence, man." Nick said finally. He scoffed and walked out of the office, and Sara turned to follow.
She stopped when she heard Grissom's voice; it almost startled her.
"Walter Gordon had an accomplice."
Sara stared at him.
"There was another voice on the tape."
She shook her head, opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Grissom looked at her, and she was sure he was studying her somehow.
She took a breath, figuring it best to try to remain professional. She figured for a moment that Grissom expected some sort of fit from her. She took another breath and then sighed.
"Was it Kelly?"
"Archie couldn't ascertain who, whether it was male or female."
She blinked and walked out, not knowing what else to say.
She searched the building for Nick, her mind racing, wondering if she should tell him.
She found him in the parking lot, sitting in his SUV.
The windows were rolled up but she heard the stereo. She knocked on the window and he rolled it down, held up a CD jewel case for her to see. She didn't need to see it---she knew, when she heard the song.
Nick looked over the jewel case.
"Outside Chance, by the Turtles." he read aloud. "Why the hell would someone leave that in my car?"
He turned his head, stared out the windshield. The lyrics wafted around him and his brows furrowed. He looked at Sara. "You know anything about this?"
Sara shifted her weight and nodded.
She swallowed and then cleared her throat.
"A cassette with the song on it was sent to the lab…with the flash drive that had the live feed on it…when you were abducted."
Nick grimaced and then punched his finger on the stereo buttons. The CD ejected and Nick picked it up, examining it. Sara waited for him to snap it in two, but he didn't. He put the CD back in the jewel case and got out of the SUV. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, holding the CD, and put his head down. He felt sick.
"Nick, there's more."
He sighed.
"Grissom said Archie found another voice on that tape, that Walter Gordon had an accomplice. They don't know if it's male or female. Archie couldn't make it out."
"Grissom said?"
"Just now, after you left."
Sara saw his jaws clench tightly then, and she crossed her arms.
"But why? Why would she kidnap Mary Prescott?"
Sara leaned against the SUV, her arm touching Nick's. "Well," she sighed, "we don't know for sure that Kelly kidnapped her."
"But we don't know that she didn't, either."
Sara nodded and stifled a yawn.
"Well I guess we'd better get back inside. The sooner when can find Mary the sooner we can go home."
Sara began to walk alongside Nick and he slipped his hand into hers and gave it a squeeze.
"Thanks for tellin' me, Sar."
He held the door open for her as they walked back inside the building, and didn't let go of her hand.
Sara didn't pull away, either.
Greg almost knocked them down as they turned the corner.
"I've been looking everywhere for you guys," he said breathlessly, and Nick and Sara looked at him.
"Grissom wants you in his office, pronto."
They glanced at one another as Greg hurried off, and they followed.
Nick recognized the voice before he stepped into Grissom's office.
"Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle. No one else, or she dies."
The tape clicked off as they entered, and Grissom's eyes shot up at them.
"You two have no time." He handed them a slip of paper and grabbed his jacket.
"Follow me."
"The teams are stationed at various points, one block away," Brass explained.
"Anyone else in view, and Mary Prescott dies. You each have a flare and a side arm. Use either only if you have to. It's likely that Kelly Gordon isn't working alone."
Nick and Sara glanced at one another and then turned and walked toward the house.
Sara sighed nervously and glanced over the premises as she followed Nick and they made their way to the back of the property, toward the garden.
"First time I've ever seen flowers in bloom at night," Sara whispered, noticing the rose bushes along the walkway, and Nick stopped walking and pulled her against the wall beside him. He poked his head out and glanced around the pool area. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked back at Sara. She stared at him through tense eyes, her palms sweaty yet cold, and Nick laughed nervously.
"This is romantic."
Sara grinned, and then the shot rang out.
"Hold your positions and do not fire!" Brass called out along the airwaves, and Grissom stiffened.
"What's going on? Can they see Nick and Sara?"
"Somebody gimme a status report down there. I need to see two heads, on two standing bodies, at the back of that house."
A sniper in a corner on the roof of the house adjacent the property squinted and reported back, "Visual on Ms. Sidle."
"What about Nick?" Grissom asked quickly, and Brass echoed, "What about Nick Stokes?"
"That's a negative."
Grissom cursed and Brass rubbed his forehead.
"Request to move in?"
"No, do not move until you see the signal. Again, repeat, hold your positions, hold your fire. Nobody moves until we see a flare."
Brass put down the transmitter and looked at Grissom.
"Where's your girlfriend?"
Nick had taken only one step, enough to turn the corner, but it was enough. Mary Prescott's blood filled the pool as her lifeless body floated toward the center, and Nick shook his head. Sara turned the corner, her hands in the air, and then dropped them loosely to her sides.
"Sidle just turned the corner, hands in the air," the sniper reported, and Grissom frowned.
Kelly Gordon sat in a lawn chair at the other end of the pool, a small caliber handgun in her left hand, aimed toward Nick and Sara.
"There's the happy couple," she said finally, a smirk crossing her lips, and Nick shivered.
"Why? Why Mary Prescott?" Nick asked, walking slowly toward Kelly, and she shrugged.
"That's far enough, Nick," she said coolly, aiming the gun at him. She stood up and glanced at Sara. Without saying anything she fired, and Sara fell into the pool. Nick cried out and dove in after her, and Kelly sat back down in the chair and waited.
Grissom heard the shot.
"We have another shot fired…"
He got out of the van and ran toward the house, leaving Brass to curse behind him. "Alright, move in, move in…go, go!" He drew his weapon and ran after Grissom as the teams moved in.
Grissom ran around the corner to see Kelly Gordon at the end of the pool, and Nick coming to the surface at the other end, an unconscious Sara in his arms. Ignoring Kelly, he knelt down and pulled Sara out of the pool.
Within a few minutes teams filled the area, Kelly Gordon was handcuffed, and Mary Prescott's body was being pulled from the bloody pool. EMTs pulled Grissom and Nick away and began working on Sara, and Nick stared at Kelly as two officers led her away.
"Now you know," she said calmly, right after passing him, and Nick shook his head.
"Know what?"
She turned her head to face him, still walking, her blue eyes cold, and replied, "What it's like to lose everything."
Nick jolted awake and Sara looked at him. She sat the coffee down and touched his forehead.
"You okay? You're sweating."
He swallowed and glanced around to find that he'd dozed off in the break room. He took the coffee with shaky hands and guzzled it, and Sara's brows furrowed.
"Easy, Nick."
He nodded, and then stood up and tossed the cup into a wastebasket.
Just then Warrick, Catherine, Greg, Brass, and Grissom shuffled into the room. After everyone sat down and files were opened, Grissom glanced around the room at the faces of his coworkers.
"Tell me what we've got."