Chapter eight! Doing a little time jump here, about a week later.
Nick was finally released from the hospital. He was so glad to finally get out of that place, even though he couldn't go home, he was still glad to get away from there. Everyone at some point, had offered for Nick to stay at their place, but Nick objected. He would rather stay in a hotel. They allowed him to stay in a hotel, but not without someone there with him at all times. He really hated this, but with Laura still out there they couldn't take any chances.
They all brought him to the hotel together. Greg opened the door, and it was nothing fancy, just a small room. There was a coffee table, pull out couch, and a chair sectioned off what was the 'living room.' There was one king-sized bed, a TV, and a mini fridge for the bedroom. In the very back there was one sink, just outside the bathroom. "It's nice." Greg said when they saw the room.
Neither Catherine nor Greg stayed long. They were extremely tired and didn't want to stay and talk right now.
It was Sara who was assigned to be with him for the next three hours, and she was the first person he asked about the case. She couldn't tell him much, except Ben was in custody and they hadn't found how any of it tied to Laura except for the choice of victims. They knew she had something to do with it, but didn't have the evidence.
"Is Catherine going to make me testify against her?"
"I think so." Sara said with compassion in her voice. "She's probably going to ask you one last time if you're willing to cooperate, but if you say no... it won't matter. She was trying to get in contact with Dallas PD, make sure they were on board before bringing in Laura."
"I can't believe what she's gonna put me through, after I trusted her."
"She's only doing this for you. All of it, including the part where she told me and Greg, so you wouldn't have to." Nick had never thought of it that way, but it hardly made a difference. He was so wrapped up in his own pain he couldn't think about how she was actually trying to help him, even though it made everything feel worse when she tried. "She wants Laura to be sent to prison so you can put all this behind you."
"Now you're starting to sound like Catherine."
"Nick, I just want what's best for you, and if you think doing nothing about this is the best thing... I'm not going to agree, but I'll support you either way this all happens to work out."
"Thank you Sara. You don't know how long I've waited for someone to tell me that."
They sat and talked for the remainder of the time Sara was there. Not about anything important, just talking about something other than the case and Laura for a change. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Sara answered the door, and Catherine stood in the doorway. "Hey Catherine. Come on in." Sara opened the door for her, then grabbed her belongings and started to head out. "Bye, I'll see you guys later. If there's anything you need, call me."
"Thanks Sara." Nick said just before she left.
Catherine wasted no time, "Nicky, I need to talk to you about pressing charges."
"Look Catherine, I know you want me to, but I just can't. I know she needs to pay for what she did, but I don't think it's worth it, to have my life put on trial."
"It's not up to you anymore. I talked to Dallas PD, and they've asked for us to arrest Laura, and send her to them. We can go to Texas together for the trial since the LVPD is working the case along with the Dallas PD."
"Great, so you get to watch while I tell the jury everything bad that has ever happen in my life because, you know the defense will bring it all up."
"I don't have to be in the court room with you if you don't want me to." She could see he needed some time to rest and be alone for a moment so, she locked herself in the bathroom for a little. It was the only separate room in the hotel.
Nick laid on the bed thinking of how he could prevent this from happening, but it seemed inevitable. He drifted off to sleep, with tears rolling down his face.
Brass had just picked up Laura, even though he didn't know hardly anything about the case. He knew she was being charged with molestation, but had no idea who the victim was. Eventually he would have to know, but they kept him out of the loop for as long as possible.
Sara and Greg were at the lab. Neither one of them could sleep, and they both decided to try to go to work instead. They didn't know what they were looking for, but they started to dig into Laura's past. They didn't find much, but they did find one thing that caught their eye. Greg found it, and called over to Sara, "Hey, check out what I just found. Laura had been accused of molestation of a ten-year-old boy. The case was dropped after the kid was in a car 'accident' right before the trial. Guess who the other driver was. Ben Thomas."
"That proves the connection right? Between Ben and Laura?" Sara asked.
"Possibly. Maybe it really was an accident, and that's when they met."
"And no one would suspect anything since they had nothing in common. They had no reason to be working together. No connections, except this one little incident which had been minimally investigated. We need to call Catherine."
They called Catherine, and she wanted Nick to come with her, but he wouldn't hear of it. He needed some time to be alone, and the lab was the last place he wanted to go. He knew if he went in he would be met with silent stares. No one would say anything, they would all just stare and wonder if he was okay. He wouldn't allow it. Catherine left him there at the hotel, after making him promise he would call if he needed anything.
Catherine went to the lab, and Sara and Greg were still filling her in on the new evidence they had found when, she got a call from Nick. "Hey Catherine, there isn't any more water, I'm just going to run to the store and get some."
"Do you even have a car?"
"Yeah, they brought it here because, my house is a crime scene, remember?"
"I don't know, I don't think... I can get you some water."
"No Cath, its fine. I can do this myself."
"You better be careful."
"Don't worry about me, I'm a grown ass man. I can take care of myself."
"Okay, call me when you get back. Bye." Catherine said, and then hung up. "Where were we?"
They explained the rest to her, and she called Brass and asked him to get a warrant to search Laura's house and computers. While Brass worked on getting the warrant, the rest of them went to go wait outside her house until they got the go-ahead.
Traffic was extremely slow trying to get there. They suspected there had been an accident, and they were right. It had just happened too. There was a single car completely smashed into a street lamp. Catherine looked at the car and thought, that car looks a lot like Nick's, but it couldn't be. His is different. But she still couldn't get over that thought. What if it is him, and I did nothing to help him. The first responders hadn't arrived yet, and Catherine felt this urge to help whoever was in that car even if it wasn't Nick. "Pull over."
"Right now?" Sara asked.
"Yes, pull over."
Sara did as she was told, and Catherine ran out of the car to see who was in that car. There were a few people around the car who pulled over once they saw it happen, and Catherine made her way to see the person in the car.
So, is it Nick? Please review!
