Hanging by a Moment
- Lost Son's
Chapter Seven
Author: Jen
Author's note: Ok I have more reason that most not to continue with this story even though I'm a hairs breath away from my own cliff hanger which is meant to be at end of next chapter.
Anyway I cannot help what ever is coming with GRAVE DANGER & that I was trying to write something believable & accurate (something now completely out the window)
However out with getting his parents names wrong etc – I cannot give up on this one, I love writing & that I wish I could take it up professionally!!!
Plus I think even under circumstances this story pen ultimately comes down to G/C & N/S & where Nick fits as part of the team – take the heart & if they take that away I stop watching completely!!!!
So I am offering you an alternative & that finely after months I get to unleash the heart & soul of this story, even if I'm already to late some things have just got to be said even if it's only on paper.
Ok enough from me enjoy the read & I leave it up to you lot if you want more - for the foundations of my story have just been taken by the real mccoy & the resemblances in places to what is here, is unbelievable & I'm not joking – only I did not bury him alive to get the results!!!!
Way to big note but there is something in here for everyone so please read & by the way the bit at the end really has something!
Jen
It was a recognizable place where she stood at this moment; in this two storey house on the east side of Dallas. With where she stood, not only being the main sitting room, it was more importantly the family room - as Catherine Grissom's gaze drifted to look at the traditional furniture, the air looms, and the grandfather clock, which ticked quietly away in the corner.
Her gaze resting on the grandfather clock for a moment more before shifting, as her ice blue eyes now took in the shear scale of the room; and that it was something easily hidden. By its cosy old fashioned furniture and Texan veneer.
As her gaze once more drifted her thoughts turning back at that moment- to the times to which she had been here before, the knowledge it had indirectly given her then, on the foot notes of an individual's live, there bringing up and there family with her thoughts dwelling on that.
Before shifting direction too the last time she had been here and that it had more crucially been with Gil; and that the circumstances could not be more different - too the reason why she was here now….
…..Her ocean blue eyes falling at that, to the person furthest away from her at this moment – whose warm brown eyes were for now, no longer on her and that he was looking instead, at the many photos on display. On top of the old carved wooden display cabinet.
With him taking it in gradually; her own gaze watching his movements and that he was oblivious at this moment, to anyone else. As her blue ocean eyes rested on him, with her thoughts inter connecting at that.
Thinking of the strong vibrant woman, who she had met here years before and a person know dead, as her gaze rested back onto him at that moment….
With Grace Stokes thinking the worst, something that they had all thought and that her youngest son Nicholas Stokes, a son she had thought dead – lived as the brown soft eyes lifted at that moment away from the photos.
His gaze temporarily focused solely on her, as if in answer. As her gaze took in the paleness of the handsome set features and the short limp brown hair which was unable too cover, the visible deep scar on the left temple; and the look which shone, in those brown still eyes.
Her thoughts re-canvassing at that - with these last few hours where he had been under her care, bringing only more confusion for him; and that it was combined with the protocol and ordeal that he had also been put through in the process.
With it being mandatory for any missing person who did turn up - and that the toll it had already taken on him……
Was something quadrupled now, in this two storey house where he had grown up as her blue ocean eyes rested once more, on the forlorn figure her thoughts, re-adjusting.
Taking in as she did so, the loose non-descript clothing; and that his image at this moment, still portrayed a dishevelled look.
With her gaze shifting at that to what she could also see on him. Something tucked into the top left pocket of the dark shirt he now wore - the fountain pen she had given him.
As her own features turned grave, with what she had known beforehand only being added too detrimentally…..
Her gaze taking in once more at that the scar on the left temple, which ran deep into the hairline and that the internal damage from that wound, something which had never healed - and what had been confirmed to her now.
Within these last hours:
That it was unlikely ever to. With the fragmentary memories, something which influenced his every move and action being permanent; and that the physiological trauma along with it - had left the defining mark.
As her thoughts cut off at that; focusing instead on her core reason for being here as she looked his way. Nick's brown eyes finding hers. With her gaze seeing the glazed anguished look in the brown still eyes; as his gaze at that moment left hers...
With the fragile ground that she had made with him; the trust that lay now at this moment in those brown warm pools being something - that she could not loose as her thoughts kindled her gaze drawing in at that moment, all that was around her.
Taking the hushed disjointed silence that subsided in this room.
As her ice blue eyes came to a stop; her gaze coming to rest on one certain individual, who stood now not far from her, as her gaze looked past him - to the person that she had been keeping a more than, close eye on.
Her gaze staying protectively there for a moment more; with Nick intangibly unaware of what was going on underfoot - as her blue eyes focused on him for a moment more, before sliding back to Ryan Stokes; taking in his profile and the close resemblance he held with his younger brother.
Something embodied at this moment, with this being the first she had ever seen them together; and that the marked differences between them was now, also more than evident as she looked into the dark brown eyes of Ryan Stokes.
As the dark brown eyes focused now on her and that Tom Stokes oldest son had faired well in these years. With him keeping his father's role as chief justice of the Texas supreme courts; and though he had differed in many ways. From his father Ryan Stokes - had never the less managed to make his mark on the law and justice system here in Texas….
Her blue cool eyes taking in at that, the set features; the brown hair which was just beginning to grey and that he was less handsome than the individual, who stood at this moment more or less beside him.
With the features of the younger of the two being pale and withdrawn in comparison and that there was lifelessness, in his movements something which brought an ache to her own heart; as she took in the look, she was now receiving from those dark brown eyes of Ryan Stokes.
For it was something which clashed directly with there reason for being here now, as her thoughts intensified. Staying set on that line with there evidence, the pieces they know held and what the Dallas authorities had followed up…..
Coming to only one answer and that she was now for the first time since meeting Ryan Stokes disputing conviction -
Of an individual who years before she would have had no reason to doubt. That he was guilty and though they had held no evidence then; he had been the one that they could not help but point the finger of suspicion at…..
As her gaze took in the two brothers with Ryan Stokes not being more different from the defenceless man who stood beside him. Plus what was integrally inter-grated with that. For it was part of the Stokes family.
The branch and line which Nick was rudimentarily part off - and the family to which Ryan Stokes too this day was still head off, with the Stokes family never in these years; too have recovered from its loss.
As her gaze swept between them - and that they were of the same blood….
Her thoughts migrating at that moment; too the women, her colleague, the individual who all this would mean most to and her child and that along with all her other reason's for bringing him here; something in itself colloquial….
For it was where his live had begun and what was now linked with it.
Something worth the risk of bringing him here, that it might in someway jog that memory of his, as her blue eyes levelled back from Nick too Ryan Stokes. The dark brown eyes glinting into hers at that moment as if knowing her thoughts and that the standoff which had remained until now was - inconsequential….
With Ryan Stokes now being right where she wanted him.
As her gaze for a moment went to the vulnerable lean man beside him with Nick for now still remaining unaware before her gaze, carefully moved back too where it had been too where she could read Ryan Stokes every action and emotion.
With his behaviour and demeanour being something that she had been monitoring meticulously from the first moment they had arrived here and though she had now every reason to question his previous alibi.
To where he had been on the day almost six years earlier when Nick - the individual and brother who stood beside him now, had went missing…. with it also both directly and indirectly…..
Being her fore-frontal reason for bringing, Nick here now - as her thoughts at that moment combined, with there fresh evidence along with what the Dallas authorities had followed up and Ewan Carnahan's word.
Something itself up for debate and by not only her, being what was now the all important critical factors in this investigation - and that she was devoid of making any wrong moves at this moment; as her cool blue eyes traced this ancestral room, her thoughts collaborating into a different form…..
Her blue ocean eyes falling back onto Ryan Stokes at that before shifting, as her gaze fell at that to the woman on her right hand side. For she had been the individual who they had informed first – that her younger brother was alive as there gaze met.
The brown hazel eyes holding on hers for a moment more the emotion surfacing and that Neve was the sibling closest in age to Nick and that like her older brother, and the rest of Nick's sisters she was married - and had a family of her own.
With those children now all more or less grown up or being off Lindsey's age; and that there uncle who stood here now would be nothing more than, a vague memory to them as her thoughts drifted again.
Thinking once more of Sara and her child with that little boy, who was off Nick's own flesh and blood; being the ever lasting connection and bridge too this family and what was re-forged with it. As her gaze slid at that moment to the sensitive man who stood some distance from her…..
Her gaze resting there tentatively her thoughts personifying in a different way - and what was indirectly linked too it; that Sara was still in the dark to all that was happening now and that she was not the only one.
With this vulnerable man, being unaware also that he was a father - as her blue eyes slowly at that moment departed from Nick.
Returning instead too Neve and the look which shone unyielding in her brown soft eyes for it was what she and the man who stood closest to her at this moment were thinking - and that it had only in these moments grown in strength….
With her gaze, shifting momentarily back to Nick at that thought….
The bowed head lifting at that moment; the brown depthless eyes meeting hers - and that there was an unspoken plea in them.
As there gaze stayed locked.
Before the brown eyes slowly and gently dropped there gaze, the moment gone with something else catching his attention. As her gaze maintained focus solely on him and the photo which Nick's brown warm eyes; were now nervously looking at, and that she could see clearly from here.
For it was the photo which had always sat there; and that it was the photo of a father - with his two sons…..
As her ocean blue eyes shifted at that moment, to the man beside her; a Texan also and a cop, with Max Calder's green-blue eyes glinting off hers and that his thoughts were running the same course as hers.
With her blue eyes drifting back to Nick and then to Ryan Stokes; with what they held against him - what the Dallas authorities had gathered being circumstantial evidence something which in itself. That went hand in hand, with this investigation.
Plus what her underlying thoughts were something indirectly linked by what she knew Sara had felt those years before; and that it was something her colleague had tried in her own way to maintain. That she had kept in contact with this family; and that it had not only been for the sake of her child….
…..For it was something that she herself was only, now beginning to warm too; that under Ryan Stokes cool exterior was an individual who did care and though what she now had stacked against him, was catalytic….
Ryan Stokes behaviour and emotions were telling her otherwise and that like his sister. She had seen the look in the set features; when they had arrived here and what it was combined with. Something which neither of Nick's, siblings were able to hide.
For it was the look of - insurmountable pain. Which shone in both there eyes and that, that pain, was something which had only in the time they had been here, increased rapidly. For the brother who failed to recognise them and who, held next to no memories of them….
With his condition and nervous state adding to that; as her blue eyes swept between brother and sister, her gaze falling back to Nick at that moment; as his brown eyes slide gently from the one photo, which had briefly held his attention.
As she now watched him closely, shutting out the others who stood at this moment in this room - seeing his gaze meander in that moment.
The head bowing, the features revealing pain before - the brown desolate eyes slowly lifting to meet hers, his gaze resting for a long moment on her and the fact he did not remember them.
Was something that everyone in this room; was having a hard time adjusting too…..
Her thoughts returning at that - to Ryan Stokes as her gaze slid to him and that, the pain in his dark brown eyes showed the most, as her gaze stayed put watching the elder brother who was trying in any way that he could; to aid his younger sibling.
With that in its self telling her something - and that it was the clear emotion in those set features something which Ryan had been unable to control, being the physical proof that told her all she needed to know…
As her gaze fell back onto Max Calder the green-blue eyes meeting hers; with him being the individual who she had been working closely with, ever since she had arrived here in Dallas and what they both felt now. That Ryan Stokes behaviour did not fit with the evidence they now had at hand.
With her thoughts re-focusing too what lay at the back of her mind; with Ryan Stokes being too easy a suspect - and that the question Nick had all too innocently asked her earlier. For it was something she had withheld from him, and that it was something at this moment that he was still unaware off…..
That it was his brother's name which had come to the fore of this investigation and that though she could now put the dagger in Ryan Stokes hand. The physical evidence said otherwise.
With Ryan Stokes giving - innocence in his every action.
Her thoughts inter-grating at that with him being the one year's before to take Matthew Garrett down, the man linked to Tom Stokes and who was now dead; and that Ryan Stokes had made the painful link to the case in his younger brothers name years earlier.
Plus what tipped the balance for it was something which had not changed. That there was still, much that she disliked about him and that she in no way trusted him; and that it nevertheless did not take away from the fact.
For it was what she could see without hesitation, at this moment.
How he felt for his younger brother. As her thoughts collided taking in as she did so Ryan Stokes demeanour and that if her inkling at this moment – was right that he had played no part….
Then it made there circumstantial evidence - what Ewan Scott Carnahan had fed them illegitimate….as her blue ocean eyes swept at that onto the sensitive man, who stood beside his elder brother at that moment and that it was Nick, that was her deepest concern.
As Max Calder's hushed tone picked that moment to cross her thoughts:
'You want the authorities to hang fire Catherine?'
The Texan tone was gently polite and that it had been nothing more than a whisper between them, as she gave him a serious look. With this man, being there only other contact left in Dallas out with Nick's close-nit family; and that he was someone who she trusted coherently and who also, like her had known Nick on a work bases.
With it being this Texan who had also helped - track him down as she now shifted him a glance. Max Calder picking up on it, as she gave a simple nod in answer too his question her gaze staying on him in that moment; as she seen the beach boy good looks pale beside her.
Max Calder's features turning rigid also, as his green-blue eyes shifted off her too look at Ryan Stokes before the slowly coming back onto hers and that his thoughts lay with her own. That what they were accusing him off - the evidence against him and that no matter what they had thought of him in the past.
That Ryan Stokes was - by all accounts innocent.
Plus what was tied too it. That neither of them were, willing to put him; out the picture completely. With questioning him being an option that they did not have that his high position within the supreme courts; with-held them from doing so and what was clear at this moment.
That the answer to this puzzle no longer lay here in Dallas…..
With there investigation having come as far as it could - in this cowboy state and that the links they had uncovered to Nick's family and Matthew Garrett were only part of this puzzle….
As her thoughts shifted at that moment - her gaze drawn to the lean figure whose brown eyes were lost to her and that it was what had ran, deep for generations in the Stokes blood, for it was part of Nick also - law and justice and that the anger and frustration that Ryan Stokes had once directed at them….
On a day not so unlike this one - was something now gone.
Replaced instead by something which was desolately familiar to her; and that it was reflected at this moment painfully in Ryan Stokes dark brown eyes, with taking any further actions in this two storey house where Nick had grown up being the wrong thing to do - and that this was solely her decision.
That it was her call and no one else's to make….
Her thoughts changing, as she looked at Ryan Stokes - with the dark brown eyes focused on Nick and that what she had dug up. The data with held, the social security card and Ewan Scott Carnahan. With it being him.
That was the only one who could give them anything more…..
For he was the explicit link in the chain - and that even under the current circumstance's it would be a matter of days yet, before he would be released from the Montana authorities to come under there full fledged scrutiny.
As her thoughts diminished and that the Dallas authorities, were on the opposite side of that same spectrum. With there evidence illegitimate though it may be, was enough to do a public figure like Ryan Stokes permanent damage.
Her blue eyes falling onto Ryan's at that moment, with the dark brown eyes giving her a set look, for it was something which pulled at her, along with the questions that he and his sister had carefully asked….
…..For they were questions that they themselves were still trying to find the answers too and that; the evidence and this missing person before her now, as her gaze slowly took in the sensitive man, who stood a little distance from her now.
Were being kept away from the media and public eye - and that it was something that she was hoping to keep, it that way ….
As Max Calder's urgent tone edged across to her with, his words deriving her thoughts:
'He won't agree to what you want ma'am.'
There gaze locked and that the Texan beside her had in one simple statement spoke truth, with her only other option - to bring Nick with her to Las Vegas, being something at this moment that she was unable to do.
With which ever way she turned putting him at a greater risk….
As her thoughts turned inwards at that moment thinking Gil; and that if the man she loved were here now. His thoughts would be the same. That it was the individual she was here for that mattered most and that there was an avenue and thread, one linked to Ewan Carnahan which was still to be followed up that held the most sway…..
Her thoughts personifying at that thought as her blue eyes rested on Nick; and that it was those details, something to be spun into this web and investigation; which were the factors that made taking him with her - the only feasible option.
With Ryan Stokes being the hurdle that she had to cross first; and that though he held the integral right. That he was related by blood. It was not in his supremacy to stop her, that it was the Dallas authorities.
Plus the one thing that caught her here.
That who ever had done this to Nick, had worked within the law - and that they were still out there….
As her gaze swept to him taking in the slowness of his movements; and that he could not remember as her gaze slowly drifted to Ryan Stokes. The set features meeting hers and what she could conclude at this moment, for it was something based on human nature.
That he was not the suspect she was looking for – her thoughts coming to a halt at that as she now gave the cop beside her a glance, answering him at the same time:
'He won't need to Max. Plus it's not him who we need to persuade.'
Her gaze shifting from Ryan Stokes to Nick as her gaze rested there; with the fragile trust she held with him, being what was now crucially at stake and that it was in Las Vegas, where he had once settled - and where there one avenue they had, not yet investigated lay.
As her thoughts at that moment transferred; and of what she now had to ask of Ryan Stokes and the rest of his family here in Dallas.
For it was something in itself which was no small request and that it would only re-open a fresh old wound between them…..
One which had never in the passage of time healed and that by taking Nick with her now away from Dallas - the place he had returned to of his own free will. She would be risking again coming under Ryan Stokes wrath, as her blue eyes fell onto his.
The dark brown eyes looking through hers at that moment; and that more importantly her only way that she had left to protect the individual and person under her care - was to take the vulnerable man who stood at this moment beside his brother with her, as she glanced directly Ryan Stokes way….
Her thoughts colonising at that as his gaze met hers - and that for brothers they shared little in common. As she at that moment remembered something of old, for it was something which did tie them; how they had both felt long ago towards Matthew Garrett and that they were both without doubt, determinately stubborn….
As her gaze for a second time swung between them taking in the strong resemblance once more - and that if she was to make her move; then the time was now. As she seen there sister, come forward stepping between the two brothers.
The brunette's gaze coming to meet hers at that moment; and that Neve the woman across from her was aware of the path she was about to take - and that she was not going to stand in her way.
With it being his welfare that they were putting first above all else.
As she watched the sibling who was closest in age to him - touch his lean shoulder. His brown eyes lifting at that away from his brother, to look at his sister with there gaze staying on one another.
His brown warm eyes at that moment shifting to meet hers as she sent him a look; the brown eyes moving back to his sister and that she had a good idea to what the brunette had in mind - with Neve coming to walk beside him.
Her gaze staying in his place, as Nick's gaze swept to her at that moment, there gaze locking, seeing the look of trust which shone there, in those brown eyes and that he was going to make no further move without her say so….
As she heard his sister, speak gently to him.
The brown eyes departing from hers - and what was giving them all added concern the leanness, of his already thin frame and that he had turned down more or less any food offered to him in these hours.
With all that he had eaten being what he had at the quant café where she had found him and that his sister here now was like them. Having little success on that front with him again turning down the offer of food - as her ocean blue eyes fell at that on to the brunette with, Neve having a different plan.
As his sister's brown soft eyes looked her way for confirmation - for the two of them, to temporarily leave this room, to take him to the veranda and that like her…..
She knew the fresh air would do him good, as she seen the fresh hint of pain which shone in those brown intense eyes of his and what she knew for it was obvious to the naked eye; that his interest in this place was gone - that it offered him no answers and that the jumble of memories that this place held for him….
Was having a diverse effect.
The brown soft eyes locking once more on hers at that – as her gaze went to Ryan Stokes before moving back to Nick. As she once more sent him a look the brown eyes picking up on it as, he relaxed a little under her glare.
His gaze staying on her though - as she now smiled his way; the handsome set features turning serious.
There gaze staying locked in that moment…..
As she felt at that - the unfamiliar and hesitant touch upon her right shoulder with that touch startling her. Forcing her thoughts elsewhere; and breaking at the same time the silent message which had been in those warm brown eyes.
With Nick's gaze diverting off her, as her blue eyes rose to the person who had lightly touched upon her right shoulder, finding her-self face to face with Ryan Stokes. The look in the dark brown eyes telling her what his thoughts were, as her gaze moved back to forlorn figure, who stood a little distance from her.
Seeing the brown warm eyes unsure - as there gaze for a second time in a matter of moments locked…..
His brown eyes resting - on the red-head.
Feeling the gentle grip of his arm slacken slightly at that moment with the brunette; the woman who was his sister, making no further move as his gaze drifted between Ryan Stokes and Catherine Grissom.
With his brown eyes at that same moment ignoring the gaze of the cop - Max Calder whose blue-green eyes were concern fully on him; and that he was by all accounts someone, of insignificance to him.
As his gaze instead focused only on the red-head, trying to figure out at that moment what was going on in front of him. As his brown eyes swung; at that onto his brother….
The dark eyes meeting his before cutting away again - with Ryan Stokes gaze unable to stay on him; and that it was something which was only making him more anxious, as his gaze diverted at that moment.
Finding that of the red-heads; the blue ocean eyes encompassing his and that the power play between his elder brother and this woman, was something which more than sparked the air in this room.
With the tension of it, cutting deep into him - and what he felt at this moment for it was something that, they were unable to protect from him that he was the root cause of it, as his hand automatically came up at that moment, to touch the scar on his left temple.
His features tensing up - his hand falling as his gaze slide to his sister; seeing the look in her hazel brown eyes as there gaze came to meet and though like his older brother, he held barely any memory of her.
For it was even at this moment - in this place where he had grown up – the one thing which had not altered, with the fragmental memories spiralling, as his brown warm eyes moved to where they had been earlier.
To the archaic photos on top of the carved display cabinet his brown still eyes resting there for a long moment as his heart beat grew faster; and that he was innately somehow, aware of both his sibling's thoughts….
As Neve at that moment, tightened the grip of his arm.
His brown eye's shifting at that to Catherine Grissom the red head giving him a glance that he was in safe hands, as he relaxed. His gaze shifting once more back to his brother, taking in the look there and that whatever the red-head and his elder brother had to discuss – it was at this moment not for his ears…..
With them both wanting him out the room; and what his instincts were now telling him, that he was being pulled in both directions at once and that it was his interests, that they both had at heart and what he knew himself.
His gaze shifting to Max Calder at that moment making a link as he did; that it was the red-head who was going, to have the final major say in what they both wanted to discuss…..
As he looked his brother's way there gaze lingering for a moment on one another; with the dark brown eyes glinting into his, at that moment the look unbalancing him, as his brown warm eyes diverted.
His eyes closing at that moment, fighting the surge which went through him; as he took a breath concentrating on what was strung reticently to his malignant memory - and that Ryan the man who was his brother, was not going to let the red-head get all her own way; as his gaze lifted to meet those dark brown eyes of his brother's.
For a moment there gaze staying set, with his brown eyes unsettled - by the look which was there at this moment in those dark brown eyes, as his gaze for a second time gave way. With a voice crossing his thought's at that moment; and that it was his sister's voice. ….
With the sibling closest in age to him easing the situation. Looking between them and then to Catherine Grissom as his, own gaze shifted onto the red-head at that moment.
The blue ocean eyes resting on him with the look in them, soothing him as his brown eyes steadied.
There gaze for a moment interlinking….
As Nick's brown warm eyes surfaced with pain; Ryan Stokes voice striking out directly to her in that moment, as her gaze shifted back to Nick, seeing the look in his eyes.
The look pulling at her heart; as his sister now slowly took him away out of ear shot, with the brown eyes staying on her for as long as possible in that moment - before his gaze fell completely, his thoughts and concentration now pinpointed elsewhere as they now departed from room.
As her gaze levelled back at that to the dark brown eyes of Nick's brother and the person who had spoken; with Ryan Stokes gaze fixed intangibly on her waiting for an answer, for a moment neither of them uttering a word.
With it being she and the cop beside her - who had this man to deal with and that he was not the type to give in easily. As her thoughts went back to Nick; and then temporally to the father he had never been close too Tom Stokes….
As Max Calder now carefully broke the ice his words filling the silent gap, between them her ocean blue eyes cooling; as she in that moment gave Ryan Stokes a set look her thoughts merging as one in that moment.
Seeing Max Calder's words take effect; as she now summoned her own voice and that she was not going to take no for an answer. That it was Nick - and that this man, his brother who stood before her now and who was related by blood:
Was an individual still under suspicion and that Ryan Stokes; was not going to stand in her way, with there being too much at stake. Her thoughts turning inwards for a moment thinking of Gil - and that if he were standing here now.
He would do the same and that there was not only his blood family here in Dallas.
The family which Nicholas Stokes had years earlier drifted away from - that there was a family of his own, now waiting for him in Las Vegas; and that Nick was not even yet aware off and that even though he could not remember…..
He was under her protection.
With this being her call to make – and that the risks involved were on her shoulders, that the gamble was hers to take; for the soul that she looked upon as a son, as Ryan Stokes voice nailed her in that moment ……
The touch was gone; the cool air rustic as his handsome features turned at that moment to face his sibling. His sister giving him a look, as his gaze fell and that she had noted his blank expression.
As his brown eyes slowly lifted to once more look around him, with the October Dallas sun having already set; the light of it playing of all that was around him and that the cool air, which was hitting him was helping to in some ways release, some of the tension within his body.
His gaze beginning to now slowly wander at that, as he leaned for a moment heavily on the veranda, the traditional decking supporting his weight; as the tension within him slowly gave way, finding him-self able to at last relax, a little in the unfamiliar surroundings, of a place that should have been more than familiar to him.
As his gaze for a second time diverted to his sister, her hazel brown eyes finding his, there gaze catching in that moment. With her being about to speak as he seen her, in the last moment change her mind. Her gaze instead doing the same as his; as he looked beyond the veranda taking what lay beyond it in, with his own eye.
The detail small but enough as his brown eyes traced the reclusive yet homely back yard his gaze drifting at that, beyond its everyday boundaries trying as he did to seize some further memory.
It was though something which was happening - as he felt the touch upon his right shoulder. His brown warm eyes lifting his sister, a woman who was a stranger to him and that she in one way or another understood something of, what he was feeling as her gaze focused on him.
With the look in her soft hazel brown eyes easing him slightly; and that she was now looking at the silver ring on his right hand as there gaze again met, as he sent her a serious look.
Her gaze moving elsewhere in that moment, as he seen her fine delicate features cloud his own gaze trying to pinpoint what she was looking at. With it being something that infringed this backyard that her gaze was resting on.
His brown eyes resting on the red oak tree that she was looking at trying to read anything he could into why it was of significance. As she sent him a smile his gaze finding hers the brown hazel eyes staying on him, with the smile fading a look of pain instead crossing her features.
As he looked away from her fighting his own emotions in that moment; and though this two storey house was unfamiliar to him, it had once been his home his thoughts grinding at that trying to remember any stray memory he could - and that no matter how painful it was for him here.
He did not want to leave - that it was where he had grown up and that any memories he had were linked to this place and what his gut was now telling him, that the red-head the person whose protection he was under, had other ideas….
His thoughts coming to a halt at that with his gaze falling to Neve, the brunette's features withdrawn and that she was no longer looking at the mark on his left wrist or the scar on his temple; she was instead giving his right wrist a direct glance.
There gaze lifting to meet at that; as her gaze shifted back to where it had been earlier as he fought the urge to say something, expecting the woman beside him to give him some clue to her thoughts…..
As the silence between them drifted in that moment; with her having no further chance to speak, as he seen at that moment the door that they had come out of onto the veranda slowly open; the red-head, along with the cop and his brother.
His brown eyes moving at that, the brunette turning to face there way; as he tried to read there expressions of what had just taken place, between the three - with Max Calder's features anxious, Catherine Grissom's the same as his gaze slid to his brother.
Whose gaze was fixed on him, the expression one that was unreadable; and that there was a hint of anger in those dark brown eyes, as Ryan shifted him a glance one that only increased his nervousness.
As his brown eyes buckled once more switching at that to the red-head and what the look in her ocean blue eyes were telling him, that she was leaving it up to him, on what happened next……
With his gaze moving slowly between his brother and sister at that; anxiety sweeping through him and that all eyes were now on him as he looked the cops way; tension fussing the rustic air.
As he now battled the emotions surfacing within him in that moment – with his brown eyes sweeping all that was around him, trying to find something that would stabilise his thoughts as he took a slow breath, his gaze anchoring on the red-head.
Whose blue eyes revealed there depths there gaze interlinking and that whatever she had been discussing with his brother, had been defused to a certain extent, as his features tensed his brown eyes shifting and what he could see residing in Ryan Stokes set features.
That he was in no way in agreement - with the red-head.
As his brown eyes flinched under his brother's gaze, his anxiety turning to panic in that moment as something registered within him; and that it was his opinion they were looking for and what he was aware off, that they were still protecting him from something…...
His gaze going downward in that moment feeling his heart beat; as he heard a soft voice and that it was that of the red-head as his brown eyes lifted to meet hers:
'Nicky'
The brown warm eyes shone with fear - and that she could see along with Max Calder, the underlying emotion that he was unable to hide from his siblings.
As his gaze darted of her looking away from; all of them, in that moment…..
His thoughts focusing as he did so; as his gaze fell back to Catherine Grissom, there gaze holding as he heard his brother speak. The tone firm but cool and that Ryan's set features were focused only on him.
As he voiced the question directly to him - awaiting his response; as he once more looked the red-heads way and that she was, wanting him to speak his mind something at this moment that he was unable to do….
With uncertainty overtaking him in that moment - as he swallowed looking through the windows back into the Dallas home that he had not so many moments before came out off. His gaze switching at that to his two siblings who were both looking his way.
His thoughts conflicting as his gaze found that of his older brother. The dark brown sending him a look, there gaze staying locked on one another, as his brown eyes shifted to his sister.
Her gaze warm and secure; and that she had added nothing more to Ryan's words. As his hand lifted at that moment; to the fountain pen in his pocket, his brown still eyes going to the red-head, as they shared a look.
As his gaze slowly went back to taking in his surroundings, blanking the others out his gaze resting on the red oak tree - his heart thumping in that moment; with nothing kicking in, as his gaze dropped touching his left temple.
With the inner turmoil within him heightening - and that the memories were strung unable to become anything more, as his gaze swung to his older brother for a moment holding there before falling back onto the red-head and that she had his trust.
Her gaze supporting him; and that she understood how he felt - and that he was at this moment, uncertain of which way to turn; as he looked Ryan's way before his brown warm eyes returned to Catherine Grissom, there gaze one in that moment…..
With the red-head's professional tone voicing the words that he was unable to speak….
Grissom waited impatiently trying hard not to think of times past but it was not helping, he had probably sent Catherine to a dead end but for some reason a hunch maybe or just because he genially thought a lot of Sara and that boy of hers and like the whole team even after all of this time and even though all the evidence at the time proved that Nicky Stokes was probably more dead than alive, some part of him would never accept that he was simply gone.
His eyes turned to the folder sitting on his desk, sighing deeply he opened the missing persons folder, the spare copy, Catherine had taken the original with her but they both said the same thing as he looked at the name written in bright red felt tip at the top – Nicky Stokes.
The photo of his once colleague was the first thing to great him, he glanced at it but quickly went to the written documents, the evidence, his finger tapped the desk nervously and without thinking brought the photo which had been at the front out of its pocket and laid it next to the written documents. This was all there was.
Nick had been one of the best Crime Scene Investigator that he had worked with and he had always been so dam serious about his work, it was ironic that the great Grissom could not get to the bottom of what had happened to the once happy, energetic young man and with that he swept the folder of his desk, its contents falling to the floor …
With what lay protected, at the back of the file - falling also….
As his hand reached out at the last moment; to catch the object, his movements too late as his gaze slid slowly to the floor; looking at the scattered documentation and too what had fell.
His gaze locking on it – and that it had landed beside the upturned photo of his once colleague……
For it had been the one possession which had been on the victim on that fatal day long ago; as he looked at the black watch and the significance it held to him. His blue eyes closing for a moment and that it was the one piece of evidence that he had not let go with Catherine…..
With him keeping it here specifically, not letting the red-head take it with her even though it was something which should have gone with her to Dallas; and that he knew his reason's too why he had kept it here in Las Vegas.
The fear that he might be wrong that his hunch, one based neither on science or theory might not be correct and that he had sent Catherine once more - to nothing but a dead end:
As his blue eyes fell to the photo his gaze surrendering in that moment as he felt a fresh stab of pain as his gaze rested there.
His thoughts giving way at that moment turning first to Sara, too the single mother she had become and what she was unable to hide from them. For it lay unspoken in her dark starlight eyes and had only grown with the years; the ache in her heart for the person who should have been here with her.
As his thoughts turned once more to that little boy - who had filled all there lives; from his first steps, to his first words…. for it was something he had seen the first moment he had laid eyes on him; and what was clear to him know for that same reason.
For it was something which grew with each passing day; that he was the exhilarant combination of both his parents…..
His thoughts coming to a halt his gaze resting again on the photo in front of him and that the boy who had been named after his father did have a look of Sara about him; and that he had her curiosity.
For it was something which had landed him in trouble often enough - and that he had confidence far and beyond his years, with it being something which he had inherited from both parents; and what he Gil Grissom could not help but see for it was something which brought only a new pain kind of pain….
That he was without doubt his father's flesh and blood - and that it was not only in his looks and character, that he had his father's head for heights; something which had landed him in more than one close shave and that he was unable to keep; his two feet on the ground.
With him having a soft spot for that little boy - one which few were reckoned with and that he knew his reasons why, that he was in someway trying to make up for something he had been unable too - and that it was, exact same reason why he spoiled that five year old; and that it was something which had got himself into trouble more than once, from both Sara and Catharine.
As his thoughts went into free fall the palm of his hand touching the empty desk in front of him; with the enthusiastic five, year old who inquired to know every antiquity his office held, had the personality and determination which belonged only to his father….
….With him at the age of five knowing everything ornithological possible - and that it was a trait which had come from only one place; as a smile came to his features and to what that little boy had taken to doing recently, something which warmed his heart……
That he would look up from where he was know; too find a five year old standing at the door, the innocent brown eyes watching his every move, with the boy taking his gaze as the signal to come forward; and to clamber onto the chair across from his desk.
With the strong set features giving him that smile at that moment, the little boy, giving him the look to continue - with whatever he was doing, as his own gaze took in, the serious look and the enthusiastic expression there also; and what would clutch his heart in those moments….
When those warm brown eyes were focused only on him, that it would be that little boy's father; that he would see across from him in those moments - and what had been sunk deep into him for that same reason.
That he see in him - all the things which had been lost to them, with that five year old having his father's heart, innocence and the huge chunk of humanity; which had belonged only to Nick……
As his thoughts came to a halt; with it going beyond simply those things, with that little boy sharing the gifts that had belonged only to his father, the gifts that had made his father among other things, the charismatic and popular CSI he had been.
That he had his father's soul - and that he was strong in the way Nick had been and that it was combined infallibly also; with his mother's spirit, something which had lead to one or two humorous escapades in its own right.
With that little boy having a little of his own as well; and what was there also. For it was something which shone deep, in those brown innocent eyes that were full of live - that serious but easy going nature of his - and that it was something which few individuals were blessed with……
A rarity which was vibrant - the emotional tide, that sensitive quality and that it was only now these years later. When his once colleague was now nothing more than a distant memory; that he had come to fully appreciate how that boys father had been in a league of his own and what went with it.
That it had been something that he himself had never neutered…
With him not once letting that CSI three spread his wings in the way he should have done - and that potential that he had seen in Nick the stubborn determination, his drive, compassion, the human qualities; his loyalty, integrity that serious edge were all the things that he himself had shunned.
Plus what went with it that they were the qualities which had made him all the more unique - with Nick having something else, something which belonged only to him; and that it was a quality no other had.
Nick having it by the bucket load – that he had looked beyond the theory and the science, that he had applied an open mind to all that he did; and that he had the human touch, in a way no other had and that it was combined articulately.
The roots of his live, what had shaped it; and what had resurfaced time and again in his work the instincts which had come from his cop background. With Nick being the type to go on a hunch - what he was doing now at this moment and that it was something once, unfamiliar to him Gil Grissom.
For it was something which had been cruelly twisted into him in its own way; that he had not once given that Texan, in all the time he had been under him a fighting chance and what had been compounded painfully these years later.
Too where it could have lead - and what gripped his heart now….
Seeing those qualities; which had shone in Nick interwoven, in his own son and the fact, what everything in black and white stated - that he could be nothing other than dead, as his blue eyes closed thinking once more of that little boy; and that he was like quick fire in his own right.
With him having his father's charisma and animation….
His blue eyes opening at that moment as his thoughts re-adjusted and what added to that pain the innocence and stubbornness and the fact that little boy had no one memory of his father - as his thoughts turned once more to the past….
Too where the evidence before him had leaded too….
The course of there investigation years taking them in only one direction - too the lone start state and too the threads of Nick's live, too his father and too one Matthew Garrett the man who they had held accountable for his missing colleague.
With Garrett giving them nothing more and that he had died behind bars - his satisfaction coming only in seeing Nick's family suffer more and what made it all the more painful, the part he had played in what had….
…..Impacted that Texan's; live like no other.
As his thoughts came back to the present; as his gaze slipped to the black watch and the cracked face and that in all this time – it had not once stopped and what he felt at this moment….
…Something unusual for him, that there was a message there.
The possibility one that lay beyond the science of his live and lay encircled with that Texan; that Nick might yet be alive and that it was his only hope – as his thought went once more to Sara in that moment:
Too the guilt she could not help but feel for the live she had brought into the world and the further pain wrought by Matthew Garrett's death. With that little boy who was part of all there lives being the lasting connection and link to Nick's family in Dallas.
With Sara in her own way looking beyond what he and Catherine had seen in Ryan Stokes that she had maintained the bridge to his family. With Nicky Stokes giving an added dimension to that and what lay unspoken between, all of them.
The one thing which they had all protected that little boy from, to what had happened to his father…..
As his blue steal gaze drifted to the photo.
His gaze unable to move off it; with law and justice something which had ran deep in the Stokes blood for generations:
For it had been the backbone of Nick's live - and ran deep in his son's blood also - and that it had brought them no closure, only that he was still missing, and that the web.
The system itself had brought them no answers, with him at every turn being a step behind with no body ever turning up. His own methods futile; and the cruel irony something what was linked somehow, to the victim that they had found only dissolution.
With Sara and his close-nit family in Dallas left only too suffer the pain of the knowledge given to them and that the puzzle which he held no more than half the pieces too – had been unable to be made whole.
Matthew Garrett adding to that, with Ryan Stokes only maintaining his standoff with them and that it was something which had remained. With the passage of time coolly unchanged and what was combined with it also - for it was something which had shaped there investigation from the start the human element….
With science, theory and modern technology playing no part the little evidence they held, unable to yield them anything more; as his thoughts personified - and that he Gil Grissom.
Had been unable to solve this puzzle, too what had happened to the individual, the Texan, he had looked upon as a son; and that there was only ever one person who could help him…..
His blue eyes closing - in that moment.
No longer able to look at the photo in front of him and that little boy who was of Nick's own flesh and blood; was a constant reminder to a time when, these labs had been a lighter happier place…..
With the strangle hold which Conrad Ecklie held upon these labs, being something which had only grown and that he had been unable to stand in his way, that his team which had been split once - and then halved, being no match too Ecklie.
That he had lost the heart and soul of his team - the unique qualities which Nick had added – with both Greg and Warrick becoming surrogate fathers to that little boy, Sara putting everything into the bringing up of her son and that the she had brought that little boy up to in every way know his father…...
As his blue eyes opened; looking at the photo.
His gaze resting there for a long moment taking in the image and that like Sara, he knew the question that little boy would one day ask. With him growing up fast and that he was a smart kid for his age and that like his father before him; he would break many a heart. With the question he would one day ask, being the one they all feared.
For it was what he seen - whenever he looked into those warm innocent brown eyes that it was as though some part of him, already understood what had befallen his father; and that it was a heavy burden for any five year old to carry….
……With that little boy, being there in every way he could for his mother - and that he was her live, with no one taking his father's place as his thoughts turned back to Nick and that if he were alive at all, he would have been proud of them both……
As he looked again at the photo his hand clenching into a fist in that moment; for it was what the years had only punctured that Nick, could be nothing other than dead and the pain which went with it.
What his blood family in Dallas had been left to suffer and Sara - and that it was something which lived in a different way in that little boy; as his thoughts at that moment came to the here and now…..
His hand releasing slowly in that moment from the clenched fist; for it was something which gave him hope and that it went against the grain of his thinking, for it was something he had protected Sara and that little boy from.
For it had not been the first time - with the chances that he was out there, that he was alive at all; being all out against them and what he did not need told….
What lay within, the evidence: the internal damage done.
With him having nothing to state otherwise - that Nicholas Stokes was anything other than dead and though it went against the science of his live.
It had been part of Nick - and it was the hope which lay etched in that little boy as his thoughts turned inwards to the phone call from Dallas, from Max Calder; the details relayed to him and what his hunch was based on.
For it was, what the cadet cop had picked up on - the remote possibility that this missing person might just be Nick, with the data what the cadet cop had managed to get.
Giving him enough to gain some sort of perspective…...
The full name and date of birth - with the individual; who he had spoken to being by all accounts a drifter and that the woman who he had helped out. What had brought him to the attention of the cop in the, first place.
Was what had struck him - with the woman travelling from Oklahoma city, having the same first name as Nick's own mother; and that it was not only that, that the Texan had been about to land himself in a whole heap of trouble had it not been for that cadet cop stepping in….
With the incident and the fact that he had been looking out for her - sounding something like what he would have expected, from his once colleague and what made this different from those times before.
For it was what had got Max Calder's full attention; the fact that the man in his late thirties had worn a silver ring on the middle finger of his right hand - and that it was something which had sent a tingle down his own spine…..
Along with what the cadet cop had also noticed something which added weight to the dishevelled description given; the scar on the left temple and that the Texan had been unwilling to talk in anyway, that it had taken a hard push to get the few details he could.
With that alone telling him something; that it fitted with the type of behaviour pattern coming from a serious head trauma; and that the pattern the destructive force of that trauma was something which affected the individual both inwardly - and outwardly.
As his blue steal gaze moved, returning to the watch his gaze locking there his thoughts becoming one in that moment and the individual; the man he had once known if he were still alive, would no longer be the same.
With the implications of that being something he did not want to consider……
Plus what was etched with it; something he could not run away from for it was something he had checked out. The details that cadet cop had given something which had sent - him and Catherine once more back into the system, too turn up anything they could.
With him making a break through one which had only raised his own anxieties further for what they had found even for a well trained eye -
Had been hard to find:
- The dual social security number and what it had held.
Something which lead him to believe that this individual – could be fraudulent and the flip side of it what made him uncertain, the possibility those merged details; were indeed correct and the person was Nick……
With that in its-self causing him more worry and his inkling what his instincts were telling him might yet be wrong. With the last two dates recorded in the system which went with the dual social security number:
Being in the rural isolated middle states; and that he had been unable to get a direct trace through those details…. with Catherine taking that data with her to see if she could get anything more in Dallas.
As his gaze swung back to official strewn documents and the personal details there with those original details not in anyway fitting; what he had now and it made him doubt even more.
That it was the missing person he was looking for…..
His thoughts wavering there, fighting his emotions, relenting as he did so and the little boy who had come to mean so much, too not only him and Catherine; was the only real connection left - as his blue eyes slid back to the black watch.
The only other link he had left to Nick and that it was material evidence with him having no further word from the woman he loved. The red-head only contacting him to tell him she had arrived safely in Dallas something which was now three days past and that he did not know.
With there fresh leads what Catherine was at this moment following up, leaving there investigation which had lain dormant open, once more and what lay at the back of his mind; something which disturbed him more than anything, for it went back to Dallas his family there and Ryan Stokes.
The possibility that Garrett, a man who had taken responsibility may not have worked alone - as his blue eyes fell to the photo at that moment and what lay with that dark thought. The implications of it; that he had missed something then and that it was something crucial…….
As his eyes closed before opening his thoughts closing on that front instead focusing on something else; on a day not so long ago and what went along with his hunch now, for the words had not been his - but that of Jim Brass.
With it being on the day of that cops retirement while they had watched that little boy run excitedly between Warrick, Greg and his mother; with him eventually meandering over there way.
The golden brown eyes giving them both a look, before showing them his latest discovery, a broad smile coming to the features at that moment; before he quietly and gently slipped back to his mother's side, there gaze following him.
With Brass's diplomatic gaze finding his at that moment the words falling with the tact which belonged only to him:
'Call it a hunch Gil but he's alive.'
As Jim Brass's gaze returned at that moment to the boy - and that he had, no reply too give to that statement with those words not being a million miles from the one's Greg Sanders had voiced long ago……
As his thoughts cut off, with that day now being three months past as his steal gaze returned to documentation on the floor and what he knew for fact - that this official binding document and its contents which were scattered on this office floor.
Were all - he had left of that Texan……
With Greg now a fully fledged CSI and that like Brass he was, now nearing his own retirement; with these labs having changed beyond recognition as his eyes closed giving in to what lay in front of him – what this missing person file telling him one thing:
That Nick was dead and that it was the one thing even now that he could not accept as he slowly at that moment stood up his thought's subsiding as he lifted the A4 sheets, the evidence which lay scattered.
His hand coming to the picture last; his gaze staying there before moving to the black watch as he slowly and carefully lifted it from its place. His gaze taking in the broken strap and cracked face as his gaze went to the aluminous dials seeing something irregular in that moment -
That it had stopped, as he tapped the face….
His features turning to a frown; and that it had been going only a few days before when he had taken it from Catherine:
With him getting no further chance, to make anything more of it…..
Hearing his fax machine; buzz into live at that moment as he looked again at the black watch.
As his steal blue gaze encrypted the fax.
With it coming from Dallas – and from Max Calder, as he looked at Catherine's enthusiastic writing and that the cop had been the one forwarding it to him.
His blue eyes discarding that information; and that Catherine had went for the old fashioned method keeping him in the dark and that his worry for her, had been unnecessary that she had been doing what she had always been best at…..
As his hand gripped the paper at that moment, seeing what was there on that first page something which made his heart beat faster; as he read it again, for a moment unable to comprehend what was there and that his hunch.
One based on human nature and not theory had been correct – and that Nick was alive….
With that in itself opening a whole new ball game as he continued to read what was highlighted there on the first sheet and that his fax machine had not stopped either with the data still coming.
As his first feelings now gave way to mixed emotion; and that what he had only been guessing at before - had now been confirmed that, the Texan had formed a pattern with the damage done, the scar on the left temple causing asymmetrical behaviour something which in itself had been far reaching…..
….and the wider scale, that those wounds were irreparable; and that his wife had found a trace to go with that dual social security number with those details what he was looking at now – giving the full picture……
That the Texan had drifted - with Catherine finding his trail in South Dakota and that the data only expanded the severity of the trauma; with him now having an essential piece of the puzzle and that Nick was more importantly alive.
With the dual social security number being only the means to an end - as his features sharpened at that moment, his gaze taking fully in the literature in front of him and to what else was here.
The social security number - only being the tip of the iceberg, as he scrolled Catherine's writing and that she had managed to trace Nick's movement's right back to a small township in Montana.
As he slowed his pace, filtering the medical data in the further sheets of A4 before him and what did not need to be addressed, that both medical and personal details had deliberately been kept of the system and that the Texans imbalanced movements had maintained the stance.
His thoughts holding there as he drew on that – with the physiological damage done to the victim being paramount and what was obvious from the subtext of what was before him. That he had been meant to live…..
As his gaze slid at that moment to the watch which had stopped a shiver running through him as his thoughts returned to where they had been, seeing that his fax machine come to a stop.
With him lifting the last few sheets bringing them over to his desk to inspect them and that Catherine was way ahead of him; with the Dallas authorities helping her out in every way they could and that his wife had managed to narrow it down.
His own thoughts widening on that and what was certain that Matthew Garrett had not worked alone and what the red-head stated clearly here, that her trace; what she herself had dug up had lead her to one man – Ewan Scott Carnahan.
A man who had played a key role and who was now held by the Montana authorities; as he looked at his statement something essential to them and that Catherine had already followed it through, with the victim in this unable to help them, that he had no memory of it…..
As his own thoughts re-forged and what had not surprised him that it was something he had somehow expected. That it was Ryan Stokes name which had come to the fore the circumstantial evidence holding on him.
His wife not playing on that though; and that the red-head believed him to be innocent, something he himself was less certain off and that Catherine was going on her gut instincts, something he himself did not doubt.
With his steal gaze refocusing at that moment and that his wife had managed to edge something more, that Ewan Carnahan a man who was now there key player had no direct link to Matthew Garrett….with those two factors been the elements binding what was before him and that Catherine did not hold all the pieces.
The new evidence before him being incomplete, with there being, one more avenue yet to be investigated:
With what they were looking for at this moment no longer residing in Dallas, where there investigation had lead before, with the answers to this puzzle lying beyond his Texas roots, something which had only been part of it and that he had missed something originally…..
As his thoughts compounded with Catherine keeping the loop that Ryan Stokes was still in the frame - and that what applied before still held at this moment. For what he Gil Grissom was dealing with was not forensic or scientific.
With there only link left in the chain, being the key and what was crucial that Ewan Scott Carnahan had worked for a time here in Las Vegas and that it would be here to Las Vegas.
That he would be brought back to when the Montana authorities were finished with him Catherine seeing to that and what his wife had managed to conclude what the evidence told her, that he was holding something else back –
With the man who had saved Nick live; only using Ryan Stokes name as a foil…..
Plus what went along with it that- his thoughts grasping at that moment the full depth and magnitude of the pieces given to him.
That whoever was responsible was still out there - and that they worked high within the law, with there original findings and the dual social security number verifying that and that they were someone acquainted with both Ewan Carnahan and Matthew Garrett.
As his thoughts catalysed his thoughts turning to the victim; and that it was a person who Nick would have once known…..with his wife bringing the course of there investigation back onto home turf with the red-head having already left the lone star state behind:
The palm of his hand coming to rest on the last sheet at that moment his thoughts turning again to the Texan and that Catherine had managed to win both the Dallas authorities and Ryan Stokes round to her thinking, and that she was bringing Nick back here….
……Back to where it had all begun, to the lions den; and that he knew her reasons, that she was keeping him under her protection and what went along with it, that it was also connected to that fatal day long ago…..
The guilt she had felt then something which had remained and something he himself carried in a different way; and that it was something they shared and that he had not stood in the red-head's way the times before when this had happened.
With there hope never dying and that they had found him together. His thought caving at that moment and that the woman who held his heart and soul had put the weight of the investigation back on him.
As he gazed at the official missing person file before him and the data it held; with what was before him now. Being something which would be incorporated into it along with the social security card his wife would be bringing with her.
His gaze falling to the photo at that moment – and what had shrouded them from the start, that the answer lay still within the law with his every move from this moment on being crucial; and that it was the individual who was under both his and Catherine's care.
Who mattered most - along with the two people it would mean most too; Sara and that little boy, who were yet unaware…..
As his thoughts returned to his wife at that moment; and that time was now of the essence, with it not being the only thing at stake - as he at that moment reached out clasping the black watch , with his blue eyes resting on the dials which had stopped, before his gaze slowly went.
To the photo and the open missing person file before him his thoughts shifting gear at that moment and that Catherine would have Nick here in Las Vegas a these crime labs within a matter of hours; and that the man who she would be bringing with her, would no longer be the individual he once knew -
With the pieces of this puzzle yet to be made a whole - as he clutched the watch tighter in that moment and what was tied tentatively to it, that he was for the first time within striking distance of breaking this investigation; as his blue eyes closed the watch slipping from his grasp….
It is the 36th state of the United States:
Enchanted by, diamond deserts and epic mountains.
Las Vegas in its most southerly corner is its jewel.
With Nevada being the 'silver state' -
And where to this day the golden eagle glides free….
Her gaze slid to those mountains, her blue ocean eyes resting there for a long moment before moving to look at the city rising before her. With Las Vegas the place that was her home, standing out cathedral like in the near distance; the metropolis spreading far in either direction.
The view breath taking in itself - as her blue eyes returned to those mountains which stood out, the sun glistening of the craggy peaks which rose heaven wards, as her gaze slowly moved to the sleeping form in the passenger seat beside her.
With his head lightly touching the window frame, the arm limp on the passenger door of the Tahoe; with her gaze not moving of him and that he was deep asleep; as her thoughts turned to Gil and Lindsay her gaze resting there still….
The handsome features even in slumber tense - as her thoughts became one, her ocean blue eyes moving back temporarily to the free-way. Before slowly moving back to him and that he had come with her.
Her gaze taking in his profile at that moment; and that it had been with a degree uncertainty that he had done so, as her thoughts turned to his family in Dallas and that Ryan Stokes had been less than willing to meet her half-roads.
With her in the end managing to get her way the Dallas authorities seeing to it; and that it had come down this soul beside her. As she looked at the handsome set features and the thin frame - and that the fragile trust she held with him.
Was something which was not going to hold for too much longer, with the time that he had been in her care margining the difference and the feeling which had grew, insider her ever since leaving Dallas.
That there was an increasing gulf between them - one she was unable to cross and that what she had already asked of him - had already been too much, with her bringing him across both New Mexico and Arizona; to Nevada the place where he had once settled.
Plus the underlying facts that she had done so without explanation to him that she had deliberately left him in the dark to certain details, with her only giving him no more the half picture; and that he did not know the further reason too why she was bringing him here….
As she looked once more at Las Vegas; and its iconic details which stood out against the sapphire blue sky, her emotions giving way at that moment and that they were still some distance away. Plus what infringed her thoughts that he had drifted and that like in Dallas, she was only now severing the problem.
Her thoughts diverting at that moment as she turned the radio up slightly and what increased her anxiety, what she was aware off something linked to the investigation in his name; that the information which Gil would know have, might not be enough.
With the inner details that they were looking for being a variant – with it more importantly being more than a decade since Ewan Carnahan had worked in Las Vegas; and what she knew in herself.
For it was something which went with the fold of this investigation - that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack and that whoever they were looking for was an individual who had covered there tracks.
As her gaze fell at that moment to the sleeping form her thoughts going into free fall; and that the man who held the main sway of there investigation – would not be released into the Las Vegas authorities hands for a day yet.
With that time being something that they did not have at this moment; as her gaze rested on Nick and that in all there way here from Dallas and though he had had drifted in and out of sleep most of the way here:
He had barely spoken a word either - with the silence between them growing in momentum….
Plus what she had been unable to get used to; the fact that he did not know her and that held no memory of her and what added to the pain. Seeing him as we know; and that there was nothing that she could do to help him.
As her gaze took in the paleness of the features and that even in sleep he seemed to have no recluse as she seen the features twitch slightly the hand tensing as she looked at the silver ring on his right hand.
Her thoughts drifting there at that moment, as her concern full gaze stayed on him; and that he was coming to. The brown still eyes drifting open the head lifting a little. As there gaze came slowly to meet.
The handsome features turning grave as his gaze slid of hers to look beyond the free-way to what lay before them. As she sent him a smile:
'Not something you see everyday'
There was no response though, her words hanging there instead; with the brown eyes coming for a moment to briefly meet hers, before diverting as he gave a simple nod in answer.
With his response giving her no further clues and that it only edged her feelings more; and that he had picked up on it.
As the brown eyes for a moment locked on hers the look going straight to her heart as she turned the volume of the radio up. With it being a western tune that was playing; his gaze coming back to rest on her.
With nothing further been said between them; as she concentrated on her driving with Las Vegas edging nearer her thoughts turning to those there and the ache it brought to her heart.
Thinking of Sara in that moment - and that little boy, the son who this Texan did not even know he had. Her blue ocean eyes closing holding on that thought as her eyes opened her gaze going to him; and that he was neither looking at those mountains or Las Vegas….
His gaze elsewhere as she picked up what it was his brown warm eyes were focused on; and that he was at this moment unaware of her looking. As her gaze pinpointed what he was watching.
For they could be seen to her north high above the desert - a pair of golden eagles as she watched one slowly transcend the other; the movement one, as they glided ever higher. Her gaze staying on them before; she looked once more into those brown still eyes of his.
With his gaze drifting of those golden eagles in that moment, the head falling as if in thought as the brown eyes switched to the radio. His gaze for a moment coming back onto her as she seen the sleep which lay in his eyes awn.
The brown eyes closing again - as she watched him slowly drift; the emotions within her coming ashore in that moment and that they were nearing there destination her blue ocean eyes moving back at that moment to Las Vegas.
Thinking of Gil with her gaze resting there for a long moment before looking to those mountains which stood out in the far distance, as her blue eyes moved without thinking, seeing again the pair of golden eagles which Nick had been watching.
With them following her path, gliding down nearer too the desert and towards Las Vegas as her thoughts intertwined; her gaze falling at that moment to the vulnerable form beside her - as she relented to the pain within her and the gamble that she was taking…..
The light touch disturbed him slightly, the contact remaining as he felt it again harder than before. As his brown eyes slowly opened the strong sun light hitting him with force, as he took a moment to adjust to where he was.
His gaze falling at that moment to the hand which was gently placed on his wrist the sleep falling away from him at that, as his head lifted to meet the red-heads smile and that it had been her touch which had awakened him.
With his brown eyes beginning to focus seeing that they were in a parking lot, the Tahoe stationary as he now registered that the radio was also off and that they were at there destination.
The red-head continuing to smile his way - the hand releasing from his wrist at that moment as he heard her speak with him not concentrating on her words…..
As he heard her speak again – the tone giving a hint of urgency as he gave her a nod in answer with the red-head lifting her mobile phone, making a quick call in that moment; with the ice blue eyes hitting him with a further look and that she was making sure that he was ok.
The red-head taking his now non-committal reply as answer; as he seen her take a sip from the bottles water which lay between them, something she had got at there last pit stop before entering Nevada.
With him more or less sleeping most of the way here; the red-head keeping her pace something set in Dallas and that it had been in Arizona where she had stopped at the Grand Canyon giving him his time – there that there had been any real, conversation between them.
Before the last leg of there journey and that he had been deflecting her even then, though he had come with her; and what she could not hide from him - that his brother was involved some where down the line and that the red-head was playing the cards close to her chest.
As she offered him at that moment - some of the bottled water with him shacking his head turning her down; and what was there in those ocean blue eyes of hers. That she was holding something else further back from him - and that she was protecting him…..
With the red-head unaware of his thoughts as he watched her articulately gather her things; his gaze following her sure movements as the ocean blue eyes came back onto his, there gaze linking in that moment and that he knew what went with that look.
That he was to go along with her - as he slowly pulled the handle, the Tahoe door opening as he nervously stepped out. His brown eyes returning to the red-head as he stood where he was, taking in the built up non-descript area they were in.
The red-head coming to his side at that moment, with her guiding him as he looked her way noting the official document under her arm….
His gaze staying on her and the one other thing she had mentioned what had caught his attention before the picture – and that it was her daughter and that he wondered at the same time, what this independent woman's husband was like; and that he was not going to have much longer to find out.
With them coming to a stop his hand lifting to touch his left temple at that moment; and that what he had felt in Dallas, was ten-fold to what he felt know - and that he did not want to go any further…..
The red-heads touch tightening at that moment - with fear rooting him to the spot and that he had worked here, in this official building which had law and justice at its core; as he continued to look around him looking at the unfamiliar landmarks and then to Catherine Grissom.
Her gaze also on the Crime Labs in front of him; with the look on her fine features matching his thoughts as he relaxed a little, the tenseness remaining though as he took a breath. His thoughts lingering and that he was unsure of what was coming after this……
As his gaze went downwards gathering his thoughts the red-head glancing his way as she stepped forward entering the angular traditional building –
His gaze following hers; and that it was not the main entrance that they were walking into but a side entrance. With that in its self puzzling him and that he did not want to question her on it.
With the red-head knowing where she was going; as she continued to direct him his own gaze staying down wards only lifting occasionally to take in what was around him.
The sights and sounds alien to him with the corridors being dark and non-descript as his hand lifted for a moment, to the fountain pen she had given him and that though he trusted her; he had felt secure in Dallas and that the only individuals that he in any way remembered were there…..
As they came to a swift halt at that moment – his thoughts getting no further, as he looked at the long corridor that they were both on and that it was eerily quite here. With him becoming alert for the first time, to the fact that the red-head's gaze was no longer on him.
His own gaze taken instead - solely by the technological labs which branched off in either direction from this corridor, with nervousness flooding back through him in that moment and that he needed every inch of this woman's support…..
With the touch on his arm slackening slightly as his brown eyes which had darted coming at last to a stop; his gaze focusing at that on the three lone figures that he could see at the end of the long corridor.
They were watching him - as he looked at the individual further away from him; a man in his early thirties. With handsome features and that there was a clear expression of shock and concern on his features and that it was something which was imprinted also on the taller African American who stood beside him.
As his brown soft eyes moved feeling increased remoteness in that moment as he looked to the individual who stood a little further forward from them, a man in his late fifties, with greying hair and steal blue eyes that were looking directly into his - and that even from here there was an air of authority about him.
With his gaze faltering at that moment unable to stay where it was - as his gaze went to the only place it could - to the red-head beside him. With her gentle touch being his only stability her arm staying linked through his and that he knew that the man who was watching them both now could only; be this woman's husband….
…..As his steal blue eyes came at that moment to meet his wife's and that he could sense behind him that both Greg and Warrick were coming - no further forward. With it being him alone being the one to come forward to great Catherine and the man beside her.
His gaze unable to move of them both; and that he knew why Greg and Warrick had come no further forward, the image itself stopping him in his tracks as he looked again at Nick.
Whose brown eyes were at this moment elsewhere and that his wife was giving him time to slowly adjust to the unfamiliar surrounding of these labs; with the brown warm eyes unable to stay in any one place.
With that alone telling him something – and that the clean cut, confident Texan that he had once known was no longer before him. With the attire being loose and tousled; the checked shirt that he wore, emphasising the thinness of the already lean frame.
As something caught his steal gaze at that moment, as his gaze for a moment slid to the woman he loved there gaze interlinking and holding in that moment – before his blue slowly moved to where they had been. To the man beside her and what was in the pocket of his shirt. The fountain pen he had given Catherine.
His gaze staying there as he took in for a second time, how thin the Texan beside her was. That where there had been muscle; there was now just bone and flesh. As his blue eyes rose; to the handsome set features.
With there being a few more lines across those handsome features; with the square jaw no longer tight but slack instead with the cheeks being hollow also as his blue eyes registered at that the slight slump of the shoulders; and that there was slowness in his demeanour.
His gaze moving at that as the brown eyes slowly followed his own movements and that the brown short hair was a little longer than he remembered it as he looked at that moment at the deep scar on the left temple.
With it being something that the brown hair was unable to cover his gaze focusing on it as he took in the paleness of the features and the clear stubble; which ran across the jaw line.
Connecting them as he did so to that wound and that the scar did not take away from the looks which were withdrawn as the brown eyes rose at that moment to fully meet his, with the brown eyes being sunken and depthless.
The look alone hitting him with pain - and that there was not the tinniest hint of recognition there in those brown pools. As there gaze levelled the brown eyes continuing to look into his.
With his thoughts turning at that to what had brought him here now to this moment - the investigation in his name, to where it had delved to his family, to his own father; to one Matthew Garrett and Ryan Stokes and what lay encircled with it – Sara and that little boy and that they had thought him dead…..
……His hunch only know when it was already to late helping to find him and that he was alive - with him having the essential pieces of the puzzle - that the noose had been cut and that he was no longer missing; with someone wanting it as such and that the clock was now ticking against him in a whole new way……
With what had been the backbone of Nick's live, foretelling his every turn in this investigation and that science was obsolete to them; the answer even at this moment lying elsewhere and that he Gil Grissom was still to find the individual responsible for this….
As he felt a fresh stab of pain in that moment one which sunk deep into him - as he looked deep, into those brown still eyes - with the look which lay there in those brown pools remaining as his blue eyes for a second closed.
His breath catching in that moment as his eyes slowly opened. His steal blue gaze coming back onto those brown lifeless eyes as his thoughts turned inwards; his gaze going to Catherine in that moment with them sharing look….
Before his gaze returned to where it had been and that there was something essential missing in those brown eyes as his thoughts personified – thinking of the watch, the possession which lay at this moment in the office behind him….
As the brown still eyes now focused solely on him in that moment and what pierced his heart that the Nick Stokes, the CSI three who had worked under him, the Texan he had come to understand and the man he had looked upon as a son was already dead…….
TO BE CONTINUED
p.s Although I'm no Quantine Tarantino do you think I could give them fair run for there money? & is it worth continuing?